Rick's Gruffer Voice Reflects His Walking Dead Journey

Rick's trauma in leads to constant development in his character and voice. Outside just acting differently, Rick notably sounds different from season to season. The Ricktatorship speech comes in the season 2 finale, just one episode after killing his best friend, Shane. This event showcased Rick's survival instincts and the toll they take on him with his overall demeanor shifting massively from one episode to another.

as a character and his speech by the fire altered from the hopeful tone the group was used to into something darker and more aggressive.

Beyond the death of his best friend, Rick loses his wife, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), and his son Carl (Chandler Riggs). Whilst Carl's death acts as an opportunity for Rick to return to the man he once was, Lori's death begins the descent into his darkest arc. His speech in Alexandria shows Rick's development as he tells the community "." His bluntness outlines his mindset as a survivor, aware of the threats outside the walls. Having lost the people he loves to the cruelness of the new world, Rick's voice changes through his trauma, using such black-and-white phrases to highlight the shifting reality.

Rick's Walking Dead Voice Change May Be A Medical Issue

While Rick's changing voice is largely down to his journey, it could also be due to a medical reason. Throughout , Rick suffers a series of injuries including fights, falls, gunshots, and being impaled. The physical injuries he suffers likely caused long-term damage to the show's protagonist, a potential reason for his raspier voice. Along with this, overall poor general health could come into the equation. With a lack of food and water a persistent problem throughout the show as well as a lack of medicine to properly treat these issues, Rick's speaking voice may have been altered as a result.

Of course, Rick's voice is not the only one that changes. Long-serving characters such as Daryl's (Norman Reedus) and Maggie's (Lauren Cohan) voices alter as well. For much of the series, all three were part of the same group and were subjected to the same conditions. also reinforces that real-world illnesses still exist such as when Ezekiel (Khary Payton) gets cancer. With an abundance of health concerns and no proper treatment for them, Rick's voice is likely at least partially due to medical negligence. Between these concerns and his traumatic journey, it's no wonder Rick's softer twang turned to the iconic voice now associated with him.