Ed Peletier

Ed Peletier is an antagonist and a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. During the initial outbreak, he evacuated to Atlanta with his abused wife Carol Peletier and his daughter Sophia Peletier. They eventually found a camp of survivors and joined their group. He served as the primary antagonist of the episode "Tell It to the Frogs".

Overview
Ed was a boorish, surly, combustible, abrasive, likely misogynistic, seemingly compassionless and vicious bully who was brazenly violent and abusive to his wife and implied to be violent to his daughter as well -- as while threatening to kill him in response to him hitting Carol, Shane also mentioned that if he put his hands on Sophia again, he'd kill him for that as well. At one point Ed started an argument with the women of the camp that was completely unprovoked and brazenly threatened to hit Andrea; he would also often verbally abuse and harass the other women of the group. Carol reveals that the controlling bully would try and assert his dominance by not allowing her to wear attractive clothing. In "Omega," Carol's adopted son Henry tells Daryl Dixon that he overheard Carol telling Ezekiel that whenever she tried to get away from Ed, he would use her long hair to pull Carol back to him and abuse her more. Carol subsequently kept her hair short to prevent this and the trauma of Ed's abuse would cause her to keep her hair short for years after his death before she would feel safe enough to let it grow long again.

Ed was revealed to have paid very little attention to his daughter Sophia and when she was an infant he would often stay at a friend's house, leaving Carol to care for Sophia. While never elaborated on, it's hinted that Ed had a predatory sexual relationship with his daughter as Carol stated in a prayer in "What Lies Ahead" that she wished Ed to be punished for not only abusing her but also "for looking at his own daughter, whatever sickness was growing in his soul." Lori Grimes, who was sitting beside Carol during the prayer, reacted noticeably.

Southern United States
Ed never attended college (as revealed through remarks made towards Andrea). In his younger years, he charmed Carol enough to convince her to date and eventually marry him. They had a daughter together, who was named Sophia. He rarely paid attention to Sophia, often relying on Carol to be the parental figure of the family. When Sophia was an infant, he resorted to staying at a friend's house nights on end, leaving Carol to deal with Sophia by herself.

Ed dominated Carol throughout their marriage, from preventing her from buying her own clothes, to physically and verbally assaulting her in order to solidify his authority. Despite this, he did buy Carol a watch for their first anniversary.

He owned a yellow 1979 Jeep Cherokee that he and his family used to get to the camp. This vehicle was later abandoned in a town near the Greene family farm.

Carol mentions in "The Grove" that Ed enjoyed hobbies such as hunting and constantly told the same jokes each year during hunting season to his accomplices.

Post-Apocalypse
When the outbreak began, Ed met Shane Walsh and Lori Grimes as evacuations were being made for the survivors to head towards Atlanta. He became angry when Carol offered a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) to Lori so her son could eat, and ordered her not to share with anyone. With the city being destroyed by the military, he, along with his family, decided to remain with Shane and Lori and leave for the countryside.

Death
As Ed is sleeping, he hears something outside his tent. He assumes that its someone bothering him and opens the tent, only to discover a walker. It manages to force itself inside Ed's tent, biting him on the neck before being joined by other walkers who devour him. Following the attack, as the remaining survivors clean up the camp, Daryl is about to put down Ed's corpse but Carol comes over and decides to do it instead using a pickaxe.
 * Killed By
 * Zombies (Alive)
 * Carol Peletier (Before Reanimation)

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Ed has killed:
 * Possibly a few zombies

Carol Peletier
Carol and Ed were married before the apocalypse. Ed constantly abused Carol and their daughter, Sophia, even after the apocalypse had hit. At the Atlanta camp, Ed acted very controlling of Carol, forcing her to pull a log out of a fire, ordering her to go in the tent, slapping her when she disobeyed him, as well as other acts. While Carol, Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui were washing clothes, Ed shouted at them snapping things like, "This ain't no comedy club" when they were laughing and, "I'll still knock you on your ass" to Andrea. He tried to drag Carol away in anger, but she was pulled away by Andrea, Jacqui and Amy. This caused Ed to become even angrier and he, in turn, slapped Carol across her face, drawing blood. Shane, who had been observing for a time a few yards away, quickly grabbed Ed, threw him to the ground, sat on top of his chest and arms, and then started beating his face in repeatedly, telling him that if he ever laid his hands on another women in camp then he would beat Ed to death, and kicked him swiftly in the ribcage as he got off him. Carol started to cry and tried to pull Shane away from Ed. When he died during the attack on the camp, Daryl prepared to prevent reanimation, but Carol instead took out her vengeance on her husband's corpse, crying as she mutilated his head.
 * "Ed never let me wear nice things."
 * —Carol to Lori[src]

Sophia Peletier
Ed and Sophia had a fairly distant relationship, at best. Ed had a history of abuse, beating his wife, both physically and possibly sexually. The same possibly occurred with Sophia, as she seemed to be in fear of him, maintaining her distance from his side. Carol states in a prayer made while searching for Sophia in "What Lies Ahead", that she had wished for Ed to be punished, not only for abusing herself but "for looking at his own daughter, whatever sickness was growing in his soul." Though the meaning of this is ambiguous, it might be assumed, both by Carol's words and by Lori's reaction to this, namely being broken from her own reverie at hearing this and looking at Carol with pity, that Carol means to say that Ed had some sort of sexual relationship with his daughter. However the meaning of this statement is ambiguous and therefore open to interpretation. Shortly before the walker attack on the camp, he remained in his tent due to his shame of the injuries to his face due to an assault from Shane Walsh. He attempted persuading Sophia to remain at his side, but Carol berated him. They departed, and Ed dismissed them angrily. Their relationship wasn't explored more before his death.
 * "Why don't you stay here? Keep your daddy company."
 * —Ed to Sophia[src]

Shane Walsh
Ed and Shane had a fairly violent relationship, due to Shane's protectiveness over the women in the Atlanta Camp. When Ed erected a separate bonfire for his family, Shane attempted to peacefully remove it, but Ed objected, before Carol finally did it herself. Following Ed's angry yelling and hitting Carol, Shane furiously dragged Ed, knocking him to the ground, and savagely beating his face in. He then threatens to kill him should he hit anyone in the camp again, before delivering one final blow to Ed's face. Ed remained distant before his death, deciding to remain in his tent most of the time, shameful of his face's condition and fearful and angry at Shane's superiority.
 * "You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'll beat you to death, Ed. I'll BEAT you to death. DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
 * —Shane to Ed after beating him[src]

Andrea
Ed and Andrea had a poor relationship, which finally failed on the day of the women doing the laundry in the quarry. Upon hearing the woman laughing jovially, he approached, berating them for their lack of work. Andrea told him that if he didn't like how the laundry was done, he was welcome to pitch in and do it himself. Upon attempting to tear Carol away from the group, Andrea retaliated, yelling at him and throwing the dirty rag at him. He whipped it back, slapping Carol, before being beaten to the ground by Shane. They were shown to have not gotten along due to his abusing Carol.
 * "Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass, just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, all right?"
 * —Ed insulting Andrea[src]

Jacqui
Jacqui and Ed had little to no interaction at all, but they had one instance of conversation shortly before the attack on their camp by Walkers. Upon attempting to tear Carol away from the laundry group of woman, Jacqui attempted to prevent it from happening, noting the bruises that Carol already had, and the new ones she was sure to receive.
 * "So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed?"
 * —Jacqui to Ed over Carol's bruising[src]

Jim
Ed and Jim were never shown interacting on screen together, but it is possible the pair were friends, as shown when Jim berates Shane Walsh for his brutal beating of Ed, and even attempts to defend his abuse of Carol. It is unknown how Jim responds to Ed's death.
 * "That is their marriage, that is not his! He is not judge and jury!"
 * —Jim defending Ed's abuse of Carol to Shane[src]

Season 1

 * "Tell It to the Frogs"
 * "Vatos"
 * "Wildfire" (Corpse)

Season 2

 * "Chupacabra" (Flashback)

Trivia

 * In the episode "Vatos", it was implied that Ed may have a history of sexual abuse towards Sophia. This is never explored however, as his death followed almost immediately. This is further supported by Carol's words in "What Lies Ahead", after Sophia's disappearance. In the church, Carol said praying for Ed's death was a sin, even though he looked at his own daughter "with whatever sickness was growing in his soul."
 * Ed is also the first character to be killed by walkers.
 * Ed is also the first member of the original Atlanta group to die.