The Whisperer War may be over but fans still have a lot of questions for Alpha’s not-quite replacement Beta. Like where did he come from, which of Negan’s nicknames does he prefer, and WHY DOESN’T HE WANT ANYONE TO SEE HIS FACE?! To zero in on the truth about his identity we turned to Twitter (as you do for all honest answers) to see who fans like you believe is behind the mask.
Why This Matters
Here’s what we know about Beta after 8 issues: He’s freakishly tall, was and is fiercely loyal to Alpha and the Whisperers, and above all does NOT want anyone to see his face. Exhibits A & B:
Robert Kirkman recently answered a question about his identity in the Issue #161 Letter Hacks saying, “We will know soon why Beta likes to hide his face.” So, why does this matter? Because fans like you want to know and perhaps his identity could mean something huge for our survivors! Or, he could just be some rando with terrible acne and a fragile ego. Either way, we’re on a break and are down to explore ALL options concerning Beta’s true identity:
Alexander Davidson
@TheWalkingDead Davidson? They were not really clear what happen to him
— 4JosephH4 (@bigangry44) January 20, 2017
This theory’s actually pretty interesting. Although Douglas claims that Davidson’s dead (Rick even walks by his grave), he DOES say he used a walker body double and sent him off where SURELY he must have died. Though, he also claims he murdered him. So which is it, Douglas? Because a lot of the Davidson traits you described (acting aggressive, allowing sexual assault, forcing others to do his dirty work) sound just like Beta!
Hmm…
Eugene
@TheWalkingDead Eugene. That’d be a messed up situation.
— J-Slaught (@JSlaught093) January 20, 2017
A messed-up situation indeed! As close as his hair may be to Beta’s Eugene is simply too short to be Beta. Plus, he’d have be pulling some serious Fred Flinstone Water Buffalo Club shenanigans to pull off being in two places at once. That or he’s pulling a Little Rascals and standing on someone else’s shoulders. That’s probably the most logical conclusion.
A Celebrity
@TheWalkingDead it’s probably a former celebrity when the world was zombie-less and he enjoys the new world where he is unknown
— NinjaOfDaNasty (@NinjaOfDaNasty) January 21, 2017
We like this idea: A former celebrity who’s in hiding because they would be instantly recognized if someone saw their face. Brilliant! After a thorough (5 min) Google search, the most famous super-tall celebs that most accurately fit Beta’s physical traits are NBA star Dirk Nowitzki and Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew. Dirk’s accent would probably be pretty recognizable so we’re going all in on Mayhew for this theory. He has the hair, the height, and the experience of wearing someone else’s skin. Do you NEED more evidence??
Ezekiel
@TheWalkingDead he’s Ezekiel. That head on the pole was a walker. BOOM
— JoshuaTobackVA (@JoshuaTobackVA) January 20, 2017
All right, now we’re getting crazy. So you’re saying Ezekiel faked his own death by finding a head identical to his own, growing a foot and a half, and changing his complexion and body type all to betray Rick and to lead The Whisperers?!?! Fine.
A Former Savior
@TheWalkingDead maybe an iron burned, disfigured savior outcast?
— DanK (@DannyEfingK) January 20, 2017
This outcast Savior theory might actually make the most sense. Assuming it’s true, he probably has an iron scar that he wants to cover up. (And who needs makeup when you can wear human skin?) However, wouldn’t Negan recognize him anyway? That man is HUGE and we find it hard to believe Negan would have forgotten about someone of his stature.
Robert Kirkman
@TheWalkingDead it’s robert kirkman
— theodora (@neganst) January 20, 2017
FINE, you caught us. It’s Robert. He’s been biding his time for years to make a Hitchcockian cameo in his own work. Are you happy now?? (It’s not him).
Who do YOU think Beta might be? Tell us in the comments if you agree with anyone on the list or have your own suspicions.
I don’t think he’s anyone of importance, and maybe, without his mask, he doesn’t think so either. My guess is that he uses his mask to maintain power as we’ve seen. If he were to be seen without it, he would just be another (albeit humongous) man in a skin suit, but as a man in a skin suit who will stab a hole through your mouth if you take off his skin mask.. that’s just about power. That’s my two cents.
I think that Beta is Davidson
I actually thought it could be an outcast savior as well. I like the Davidson theory though too. That story didn’t seem quite finished in some way. Either way, can’t wait for the reveal. Eek! Love TWD. My first comic. ?
Beta is Shane . I don’t recall him turning into a zombie . I know Carl shot him in the neck , but I don’t recall him turning . Seems like they buried him in a shallow grave , but that’s about all I can remember . Dos’nt mean he really died .
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: He’s Peter Dinkledge guys, come on its obvious.
He is Trump!!! LOL
LOL indeed
Always thought he was some kind of celebrity.
Now, I’ve even leveled the theory to the point that Beta was the United States Secretaries of Defense or something equivalent, which is why he’d be kinda ashamed to be recognized.
Anyway, a famous authority face and figure who, in the beginning of the plague, gave very bad instructions to the population, like inviting to seek protection in big cities and not worriying in case of zombie bite.
*BOOM*
Robert used already a football player… I think it is self portrait of Charlie Adlard
Why would any of the characters care ?
Didn’t Kirkman say in letter hacks that even he didn’t know who Beta was? It’s not going to be any “big” reveal, just some dude who doesn’t want to be recognized.
Unless it’s really a walker who is still conscience and capable of thinking and talking… TWIST! lol
Davidson would be very twist. I would love to see that.
The former savior interests me. what if it’s Mark? The guy who’s face Negan ironed after he was caught with one of his wives (Amber, I believe)
One slight discrepancy, Mark is significantly shorter than Negan. Heights may not be super consistent at times, but making someone we know taller than Negan – especially one that worked for Negan – would raise a lot of questions
Mark was still with the Saviors after the War. He was at the fair with Amber, until she was kidnapped and killed.
I would suggest it being Davidson, would be a bit nonsensical. Casual readers likely would not remember the guy mentioned twice or three times by a guy who did not survive that long and served essentially as a plot device to put Rick in charge of a community.
What I’ve always seen the mask as: Another plot device. This entire Whisperer arch has shown these animalistic human beings that survive, with the most literal sense of the phrase, by survival of the fittest. I would suggest Beta’s mask serving simply as a mean to dehumanize the proverbial Goliath. We don’t need to see his face. Maybe we shouldn’t.
He is jeffrey Grimes look what Lori said about him in issue 48 and it would be a hell of a twist !!
If you read The Walking Dead: Alien, you would know exactly what happened to Jeff.
A theory I haven’t read anywhere is he is possibly concealing a bite, meaning he is immune to infection. Concealing his Identity would protect him from being used or exploited or possibly hide his true intentions and may explain his reason for joining the Whisperers in the first place, as he feels more like the Walkers than a Human.
I am still thinking he is a former, ironed faced Savior.
He’s some dick that wears decaying human skin.
Supermodel Fabio could be included in the celebrity list…
I also think the reason for him hiding his face is more of an ideological issue, not of being recognized. I don’t think we have seen that character before.
Wow, that Davidson theory is really intriguing. I like it!
Let’s see…
Even though they already showed his face in issue #161’s cover, right?
No, that was Eugene. It looked like he had blonde hair because the “regular” covers for the Whisperer War arc are easily the worst in the history of the entire ‘The Walking Dead’ series (while the special edition covers should be released as a poster because they were awesome). And the worst part was the weird use of color schemes that make it hard to determine who some of the characters are or even some of the ethnicities of characters only seen in black and white.
Well, I think it’s really interesting the whole idea of Beta. To be fair, we really have no clue who this guy could be. Could it be Alexander? Sure. But then you have to consider, “Wouldn’t the Whisperers already know about Alexandria?” But that’s really interesting to think about also. That was never really explained, if they knew about Alexandria at all. Hell, two years went by, maybe Whisperers ran into Alexandria and knew a settlement was there but ignored it. Possible. Could it be a Savior? Definitely, and that would make sense. Thing is, I feel that the Whisperers would have targeted the Saviors more if that were the case. Again, we have no idea how old this group is, maybe they formed during the two years? Maybe they formed when Rick was with the Governor? Maybe they were a group of psychos before the fucking apocalypse! We have no clue! To figure out Beta, we need to figure out the Whisperers. Very excited to find out!
I think you’re onto something, the Identity of an Alexandrian would not be significant to a Whisperer or Reader so what’s the motivation to hide it if they were only really made aware of the existence of Alexandria recently? We have no concept of who the Celebrities are in the Walking Dead Universe so what would a reveal show without some kind of context of who the character was in the past? Then the fact that Negan doesn’t recognise this huge hulk of a man based on his stature alone and that Saviours don’t even seem to be on the Whisperers radar until much later make the ex-saviour theory much less plausible. This is kinda what led me to thinking it’s not ‘who they are’ that they’re hiding but ‘what’ they’re hiding.