He is a prominent character in both mediums, acting as group leader Rick Grimes' right hand man in the comic book series,[1] up until the end of "Made to Suffer".

A role model to his fellow survivors, particularly Rick's son, Carl, Tyreese is a strong and able-bodied fighter who favors a hammer to firearms in both mediums.

In the fourth season, Tyreese faces many difficult decisions and obstacles, such as the mysterious murder of his sick girlfriend Karen and the deaths of Lizzie and Mika Samuels, whom he had protected.

A featurette for the fifth season Blu-ray and DVD, as well as the action figure releases of the character, reveal his full name to be "Tyreese Williams."

Their camp was eventually overrun and the group gradually became smaller until it narrowed down to him, Sasha, and a family of three (Allen, Donna, and their teenage son, Ben) surviving out in the woods.

[10] When the rest of the group decided Rick was unfit to lead following the fight, Tyreese was later made part of the decision committee, along with Hershel and Dale.

[15] Tyreese was devastated upon witnessing Carol kill herself in front of the group; however, his grief quickly turned to anger because of how he saw suicide as a pathetic act.

She briefly tried to have a one night stand with Heath to move on from this but he turned her down, having been told about Tyreese from Glenn earlier and tries to encourage her to face her demons rather than ignore them.

Glenn recalled the story of his miraculous survival in the prison gym to several Alexandria citizens at the group's welcome party, all of whom were stunned and in awe upon hearing this.

In the episode "Made to Suffer", Tyreese and his group discover the prison and proceed to sneak in, through the exposed back side of one of the buildings.

Donna, having been bit in the woods, succumbs to her infection and dies, and Tyreese takes it upon himself to prevent reanimation by destroying her skull with his hammer.

In the episode "The Suicide King", while in the process of burying Donna outside, Allen proposes ambushing the group and taking over, however Tyreese refutes the idea, acknowledging that despite the circumstances, they're 'good' people.

They stay nearby the prison in the woods and are eventually discovered in the episode "I Ain't a Judas", by Andrea and Milton, the latter of whom takes them to Woodbury.

The Governor attempts to recruit Tyreese and Sasha as well, however they want no involvement in the bloodshed and opt to stay behind with the children while the rest of the able-bodied go off to fight.

In the season premiere "30 Days Without an Accident", Tyreese is shown to have adapted to life in the prison and begins a romantic relationship with Karen.

He goes with others on a supply run that turns deadly for a young man named Zach; upon returning to the prison he spends the night with Karen.

Sometime soon afterward, while attempting to visit her, Tyreese finds that both she and David have been dragged outside, murdered and set afire as a means of disposal.

They follow a set of train tracks where they discover a sign indicating that a place called Terminus promises sanctuary and community.

In the episode "Four Walls and a Roof", as the group looks for the vanished Daryl and Carol, Bob reappears in front of the church with his leg cut off and eaten by Gareth and the other survivors from Terminus.

In the episode "Crossed", the group learns from Daryl and Noah that Beth is alive and forcibly held in a hospital, led by Officer Dawn Lerner, in Atlanta as is Carol now.

When Rick makes a plan to kill most of the police, Tyreese instead suggests capturing two of Dawn's subordinates and trading them for Beth and Carl.

In the mid-season premiere "What Happened and What's Going On," Tyreese goes with the remaining survivors to Noah's home but discover his gated community to have been destroyed and overrun with walkers.

Tyreese begins to bleed out from the infection but is taunted by hallucinations of Martin and the Governor criticizing him for his inability to act in the face of danger, and make him believe that his lack of trying may have led to other group members being killed.

After dying Michonne puts him down to prevent reanimation and he is buried by Rick, with his cap left on his cross while his funeral is presided over by Gabriel during which a grief-ridden Sasha is barely able to stand.

In the episode "Forget", struggling to adjust to the relative normality of life in Alexandria, Sasha experiences flashbacks of Bob, Beth, and Tyreese, which causes her to snap at the others and storm off after hearing them complain about "simple" matters.

In The Day Will Come When You Won't Be, after watching Negan brutally murder Abraham and Glenn, a traumatized Rick experiences memory flashes of various people he's known and lost since the outbreak occurred, including Tyreese.

"[20] Tyreese, a fan favorite character in the comics, was adapted to appear in the third season of the TV series when it came back after its midseason break.

[30] Zack Handlen felt that most of the storyline for Tyreese in this episode was "on the clunky side, forcing conflicts that will most likely pay off down the line with rough, ugly timing".

[31] An interview with Dallas Roberts (Milton) revealed that in the original, unaired ending of the third season finale, "Welcome to the Tombs", only Tyreese and one other character were to have found Andrea.

His story arc saw him go from being a strong, silent sidekick to experiencing his own personal tragedy – and then finding himself on the road with Carol, the woman partly responsible for the death of his lover.