A devout Christian, with uncompromising morals and a stubborn attitude, Hershel remains fiercely protective of his large family, despite his many losses.

In the comic book series, Hershel is a farmer who initially exhibits a cold and cantankerous demeanor, before opening up to Rick Grimes and his fellow survivors, proving to be a gentle man at heart.

Similarly in the television series, Hershel begins as a veterinarian and farmer, and soon advises Rick Grimes and proves himself to be a skilled diplomat, often coercing his fellow survivors to make the right choices suited for them.

The character of Hershel Greene and Scott Wilson's portrayal has garnered positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

Distraught over the loss and unable to do much (while at the same time forcing himself to develop a more religious point of view), he chose to fulfill his father's dying wish by moving himself and his seven children back to the farm and tending to the livestock, as well as being able to return to the old and simplistic form of life that he missed while he was living in the city.

[7] After he discovers his daughter, Maggie, sleeping with Glenn, and sees that the other members of the group refuse to leave, he puts a gun to Rick's head and thus forces them out[8] (though afterwards, he is ashamed and scared of the fact that he was on the verge of taking an innocent life).

[9] As the farm becomes increasingly unsafe, he and the rest of his people make the decision to join the Atlanta band at a safe and secure semi-abandoned prison where they next take shelter.

[13] He engages fiercely in the battle against the Governor and the Woodbury citizens but ultimately gives up on life after his son Billy is killed while they are fleeing the prison.

[14] In his last moments, he turned down the chance to escape with Rick and the others and remained hovering over his dead son's body until he caught the attention of the Governor.

Hershel tends to the wound with what he has available, but sends Otis and Shane to retrieve supplies for performing a surgery to remove the bullet.

Despite this, the two find ways to see each other, and Glenn inadvertently suggests meeting Maggie in the barn, where he discovers it is full of walkers ("Chupacabra").

Hershel thanks Glenn for his supportiveness, and grants his permission for him to continue to see Maggie, gifting him his pocketwatch ("Judge, Jury, Executioner"), and later allows Rick's group to stay at the farm proper ("Better Angels").

Eight months after fleeing Hershel's farm, Rick's group locates a nearly-intact prison that show promise as permanent shelter.

Hershel is part of Rick's team when he is bitten by a walker on the ankle, and they race him to a safe area to amputate his foot ("Seed").

During the fight, Rick loses his wife Lori while she gives birth to their daughter Judith, and falls into a fugue state ("Killer Within").

Rick wants to turn over Michonne, whom they have taken in into the prison group, to the Governor as she had stabbed one of his eyes, but Hershel refused to be a part of that trade ("This Sorrowful Life").

Rick's group eventually repels the Governor, and in the aftermath, Michonne finds Hershel's reanimated head and finishes him off remorsefully.

Hershel appears in flashbacks in the season finale "A" as he helps convince Rick to pull away from violence, and spending time with his family.

Hershel appears in the ninth-season episode "What Comes After" as one of Rick's hallucinations as he makes his way, badly wounded, back to the Alexandria compound.

However, the producers decided to allow the character to live so that they could explore the dramatic potential of losing his farm in "Beside the Dying Fire" and Season 3.

Noel Murray of Rolling Stone ranked Hershel Greene 8th in a list of 30 best Walking Dead characters, saying, "Around the same time that Dale died, Rick's bunch picked up a new voice of reason in the form of Hershel Greene, a gentleman farmer and veterinarian who initially stubbornly resisted the reality of the zombie apocalypse.

Once the truth of his and his daughter Maggie's situation sunk in, he became a wizened pragmatist, cutting through the emotions of any moment to find compromises and options that others couldn't see.