As The Walking Dead's Season 7 premiere draws closer and closer, anticipation is set at an all time high. The Season 6 finale saw maniac Negan finally corner Rick's group and savagely beat one of them to a bloody pulp, and the speculation around exactly who was killed resulted in one of the most talked about cliffhangers in TV history. Since that time, fans have been scrupulously going over cast interviews and rewinding footage to find any sort of clues as to who was mercilessly beaten by Negan's barbed wire bat, "Lucille."

With the premiere episode of the new season right around the corner, we thought it would be helpful to speculate who might be the most likely candidate to meet their demise in Season 7. For this list, we're taking a look at who could be on the chopping block for the upcoming season, whether they be minor or major, beloved or annoying, heroes or villains. For the sake of argument, we will be including facts and tidbits from the comics, so be warned, MASSIVE POTENTIAL SPOILERS lie below.

Here are the 15 Characters Most Likely to Die in Season 7.

15. Carl

Carl in The Walkind Dead

Arguably the character that has had the most brushes with death, Carl has had his fair share of ups and downs in The Walking Dead. After getting shot in Season 2 he started to become a bit of a sociopath, exemplified when he shot one of the Governor’s young soldiers in cold blood. After witnessing most of his friends die, including shooting his deceased mother in the head, Carl understandably became a more hardened character. It finally seemed like he had found some peace within the walls of Alexandria, until he was shot in the head, permanently knocking out his right eyeball.

Although he is the main protagonist’s son, no one in the zombie apocalypse is safe, and as we’ve seen, that includes children. Carl has most certainly been through the ringer, and has made his fair share of mistakes, but he is still a vital part of the program. Judging by Rick’s demeanor in the NYCC footage, it doesn’t seem that Carl will be on the receiving end of “Lucille,” but that doesn’t mean he gets a pass for the whole season.

14. Rick

Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead

It might be strange to see Rick Grimes on a list of likely people to die in the next season. He's definitely not one of Negan's victims, at least not in the Season 7 premiere. He's the glue that holds the show together after all, and the leader who takes the responsibility for most of the characters on the program. Though being the star of The Walking Dead might certainly make you safer than others, it doesn’t make you untouchable.

As we’ve seen from shows like Scrubs and The Office (though they're radically different than this one), getting rid of main characters is doable, but it doesn't always play out in the most positive of ways. The quality of a show can take a serious dip when knocking off the main character, who is usually the person audiences identify the most with. Still, we wouldn’t put it past the writers of The Walking Dead to do the unthinkable and give the noble Rick Grimes the most premature death in television history in the upcoming season.

13. Carol

Carol in The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead has proved time and again that no character is safe from a bullet in the back, a zombie to the torso, or a baseball bat to the head. But, if we’re being honest, a lot of the deaths in the series are mostly side characters that don’t make a huge impact on the show. Sure, we’ve seen deaths from the likes of Andrea, Noah, Beth and Shane, but those were usually saved for season or mid-season finales. Fan favorites usually have a bit more stock, and are considered less likely to die.

Though she made our list of character deaths that wouldn't break our hearts, Carol is still a big part of The Walking Dead. Being a fan favorite might help Carol stay alive, but it may be the fact that she’s so beloved that sends her to the chopping block. A death of a character that has been around for so long will definitely knock the wind out of any viewer, and the upcoming season looks like it intends to do just that.

12. Negan

Negan in The Walking Dead

Fans of the comic have been eagerly awaiting Negan’s reveal since the start of last season. We only got to see ten minutes of him in the tail end of the finale, but what a ten minutes they were. Anticipation is at an all-time high to see just what kind of hell Negan intends to put Rick and the rest of the group through. No doubt he will make quite the impression for whoever ended up as the ‘it’ in his twisted game of ‘eeny, meeny, miny, moe.’

It goes without saying that the leader of the Saviors will serve as the primary antagonist for the new batch of episodes, but it’s not known yet for how long. Like every good villain in The Walking Dead, there always comes a point where they’ve got to go. Negan eventually gets defeated and imprisoned in the comics, but the show is notorious for deviating away from source material. It seems unlikely that after making the grand entrance that he did the writers would be so quick to kill Negan off, but stranger things have happened.

11. Morgan

Morgan in The Walking Dead

Along with Rick, Morgan has the privilege of being a character from the very first episode from The Walking Dead who is still alive. However, that's not to say he's always been a vital part of the show. Since his debut, Morgan only popped up briefly in Season 3, and wasn't a series regular until this past season. During that time we learn that he's adopted the ideal that all life is sacred, which may not be the greatest mindset to have in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies.

When we last saw Morgan, he was trying to find Carol, who had also become tired with her share of killing. After she's cornered by a Savior and brutally tortured, Carol is saved in the nick of time by Morgan. After a season of preaching, Morgan finally breaks his oath to kill by shooting Carol's captor. With his character undergoing yet another drastic change of heart, it seems that Morgan still has room to grow in the series, and might not be killed after only one season after his return. Still, other viewers find his character arc more annoying than it is compelling, which means Morgan might be written off as expendable in the episodes to come.

10. Michonne

Michonne in The Walkind Dead

Like Game of Thrones, there is a rule in The Walking Dead that says if things are going too good, then they're about to be ruined. Michonne just started a romantic relationship with Rick, becoming the new biggest power couple since Glenn and Maggie. While it’s always nice to see characters hook up, it rarely ends well. Besides Maggie and Glenn, we have the deaths of relationships like Bob and Sasha, Andrea and the Governor, Denise and Tara; the list goes on and on.

The writers on The Walking Dead love to break apart happy couples, and for this reason alone it’s quite possible that Michonne could be the one on the receiving end of Negan’s "Lucille." Rick would no doubt be devastated to see the woman he loves beaten to death right in front of him. That being said, Michonne plays a critical role in future events based on the comics, so killing her now could drastically change certain storylines. Being that her character is one of the most popular on the program, Michonne might be above getting killed off so early, but as The Walking Dead has proved it before, never say never.

9. Dwight

Dwight in The Walking Dead

Though there are countless Walking Dead villains who have satisfactorily got what was coming to them, others continue to fall through the cracks. Dwight is one of those. When we first meet up with the reluctant savior with Daryl, he just seems like a harmless guy who's a bit down on his luck. After a letting his guard down however, Dwight double-crosses Dixon, steals his bike and crossbow, and leaves him stranded in the middle of the woods.

Worse yet, Dwight later on uses that crossbow to kill Denise right in front of Daryl. Dwight is definitely on the list of characters that fans want to see meet his end, especially because he keeps screwing over characters that fans care about. Events from the comics suggest that Dwight might be sticking around longer than expected, because after Negan is dethroned he takes up the mantle of leading the Saviors. This might still play out on the show, but given audiences' distaste of him, Dwight might be on his way out next season.

8. Sasha

Sasha in The Walking Dead

First appearing in Season 3, Sasha has been through the ringer in The Walking Dead. After choosing to side with Rick’s group after the confrontation with the Governor, Sasha and her brother Tyrese became valued members of the community within the prison. She has suffered a lot during her time post-apocalypse, including losing her lover, Bob, and her brother, Tyrese, to zombie attacks. Understandably, she became quite depressed after losing Tyrese, who represented the last ties to her family.

Sasha formed a new family in Rick’s group however, forming bonds with several of the members including Eugene, Maggie, and especially Abraham, who broke up with his current girlfriend, Rosita, due to his romantic interests in Sasha. Just when things started to look like they were going her way, she was dragged with the rest of the core Alexandrians to kneel before Negan last season. Could Sasha be the one that takes the baseball bat to the head, “like a champ?” Though she isn’t as big a fan favorite as some of the others on this list, Sasha’s death would certainly make a lasting impact on the group, especially to Abraham, so we wouldn’t rule it out just yet.

7. Rosita

Rosita in The Walking Dead

It’s been a rough couple of seasons for Rosita’s character. For one, it was revealed that the scientist she was protecting, Eugene, didn’t really hold the cure to the zombie epidemic, and that he wasn’t even really a scientist. Then, after finding some sort peace in a stable community, her boyfriend Abraham flat out dumps her. To add insult to injury, Abraham leaves her with the explanation that he only hooked up with Rosita because he thought she was the last woman on Earth, and now realizes that she’s not. That’s harsh.

As far as characters go, Rosita isn’t as fleshed out as others, though she’s far from being a throwaway either. The combination of being in the middle puts her in dangerous territory. On the one hand, her death wouldn’t have the biggest impact on the group, but it would certainly still be a gut-punch to the viewer. She’s on the list of characters that are potentially expendable for a shocking death to cap an episode. Given everything Rosita has had to go through, and the fact that she is feeling more alone now than ever, her demise would be quite the bummer.

6. Daryl

Daryl driving his bike in The Walking Dead

From starting off in what was supposed to be a short guest spot, Norman Reedus' Daryl Dixon has become one of the most popular characters on The Walking Dead. The fact that Daryl is a leading fan favorite is even more surprising considering that his character was made up entirely for the television program and is completely absent from the comics. Reedus and the writers of the show have really put the work in to make Daryl a well-rounded character, but with the cliffhanger from last season, Daryl's time may be coming to an end.

For one, Dixon's character really has served his purpose. We're not saying that he's not a vital member of Rick's team (he's clearly one of the strongest fighters), just that his character hasn't had anywhere to go since Beth's demise at the hospital. Though Daryl is easily one of the most marketable faces of the program (you can't walk into a Hot Topic without seeing a million shirts with his face on it), the fact that he's not part of the comics may play against his favor. Showrunners may consider him more expendable than others, and may break a few hearts of Walking Dead fans in the process.

5. Maggie

Maggie in The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead is all about defying expectations, and there's no better way to do that than killing a beloved character you didn't see coming. The arrow fired through Denise's skull certainly turned a few heads, and Noah's surprisingly brutal death was shockingly graphic and unexpected. It would make sense then that just because Glenn died by the hands of Negan in the comics, the writers of the show would throw us a curve-ball. And if the show runners were going to allow for a substitute for Glenn, why not make it the love of his life, Maggie.

Maggie has been a vital part of the show since her introduction in Season 2. Not just Glenn's romantic counterpart, Maggie is a pivotal character that has grown and adapted to the apocalyptic life outside of her farm. To see her die at some point next season, especially in the first episode, would shock a few viewers to say the least. Then again, killing a pregnant character that everyone loves might be pushing it too far, even for a show like The Walking Dead.

4. Aaron

Aaron in The Walking Dead

Though his character was put on the back burner last season, Aaron still played a vital part in the progressing events in The Walking Dead. He is the one, after all, who first recruited Rick and the others to join the community of Alexandria. Since that time he's come to be trusted and respected among the group, and even formed a strong bond with unlikely candidate Daryl Dixon.

The finale of last season saw Aaron join the mission to get Maggie to the Hilltop colony, but as we all know he didn't get there. Aaron has the unlucky privilege to be part of Negan's audience of the premiere of Season 7. We admit, his death might not have the impact that some of the others on this list might have, might that might be all the reason for the writers of the show to kill Aaron off. Given the recent rumors that Negan might have two victims in the premiere, it might make sense for one of them to be a less beloved character like Aaron.

3. Eugene

Eugene with food in The Walkingd Dead

Though he was always a likable character, Eugene was given a lot of room to grow in Season 6. He finally proved to his buddy Abraham that he was truly a "survivor" when he helped save the group from Dwight and other survivors near the rail road tracks. His character has transformed from the cowering wimp that he once was to someone ready to die for his friends. With that in mind, we've seen other characters go through drastic developments, only to have them shockingly killed off afterward.

At this point it seems that Eugene's character arc doesn't have a whole lot of places to go. When he stepped up to drive the RV as a distraction in the Season 6 finale, most thought that he was a goner for sure, especially because of that touching goodbye he had with Abraham. That alone would have been a fitting send off for the character. Eugene, surprisingly enough, wasn't killed, but instead ends up with the majority of the gang who takes a knee for Negan. With his character arc mostly completed, it might mean that Eugene will wind up getting the boot sometime this season.

2. Abraham

Abraham shooting gun in The Walking Dead

Season 6 saw Abraham go through a number of changes. For one, he broke up with his long time girlfriend Rosita, who he had been with since his introduction in Season 4. After realizing that he was in love with Sasha, Abraham goes through a sort of transformation, becoming much more at peace with himself and his past - but could all that development just be building for his heart-wrenching death in Season 7? The Walking Dead has developed characters in the past only to have their deaths have a stronger impact, and Abraham is already a fan favorite in the series.

The tough-as-nails soldier also gets the number 2 spot on this list for the fact that he has long outlived the point where his character dies in the comics. Actor Michael Cudlitz has stated in interviews that Abraham's character will continue in the series, but actors have been known to thrown viewers off the scent for a while (just look at Kit Harrington from Game of Thrones). With rumors swirling that Negan will have more than one victim not just this season, but in the premiere alone, it's quite likely that Abraham might be put on the chopping block.

1. Glenn

Gleen dies in the comic The Walking Dead

For fans of The Walking Dead, it should be no surprise that Glenn gets the number one spot on this list. After all, his character is the one from the comics who dies a disturbingly gory and brutal death at the hands of Negan. Though upsetting, his death became an iconic moment in the comic, and sets up much of the conflict between Negan and Rick's group.

That being said, nothing is set in stone. Though Glenn is the one on the receiving end of "Lucille" in the comic, he might not be the one to die in the show. The writers have been known to deviate from source material before, leading to entirely different events playing out. Though fans are expecting Glenn to be picked as Negan's victim, the show runners might switch it up just to catch audiences off guard. There's also the fact that Glenn already psyched fans out last season when many thought him to be dead, which could lessen the impact of his death this time around.

Still, odds are that Glenn does meet his bloody demise this season. With his death in the comics making the impact that it did, the show might not be able to cheapen or soften that with the death of someone else. As much as we love him, everyone's favorite pizza-delivery boy is our pick for who winds up biting the big one in the upcoming season of The Walking Dead.