Ever since the start of The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon has been a bit of a lone wolf. Initially, he didn't bond with the rest of the group because he was a jerk, but even as he grew to love his companions, he liked to keep his emotions close to the vest. However, he still managed to create some very deep bonds with others.
And on the flip side, he has also faced off against rivals and villains that weren't just mortal threats to him, but were his enemies on a more personal level. So who are Daryl's best friends and worst enemies?
Friend: Judith
Judith may still be a little girl, but Daryl has been a ride-or-die for her pretty much from the day that she was born. After Lori's horrendous death and Rick's inability to cope, Daryl stepped up and was determined to keep little ass-kicker alive.
Now that Judith is old enough to develop real relationships with people, it's obvious that she loves Daryl and Daryl loves her. With Michonne gone, Daryl has taken on a parental role for Judith too.
Enemy: Beta
Although Beta seems like little more than a mindless devotee to Alpha, there is undeniably a lot of animosity between the masked menace and Daryl Dixon.
As both Beta and Daryl are used to being the toughest dudes in their respective squad, seeing them face off was thrilling, but it's clear that they both recognized each other as a threat. It comes as no surprise that Daryl wound up victorious in their rivalry in the end, and the brutal way that Daryl dispatched him would indicate that he has a personal vendetta against Beta.
Friend: Glenn
Most viewers never expected that the casually racist redneck and the Korean kid would wind up becoming besties, but Glenn undeniably became one of Daryl's closest friends. Glenn and Daryl consistently looked out for one another, and Glenn actually seemed to crack Daryl's stoic outer shell.
Daryl was understandably devastated by Glenn's death because he largely felt responsible for it, but he was also gutted simply because one of his closest friends was brutally murdered for no good reason.
Enemy: Dawn
Interestingly, one of Daryl's greatest enemies was someone that he really didn't know. He only ever crossed paths with Dawn because the people at Grady Memorial had abducted Beth, and there was no relationship between Daryl and Dawn whatsoever.
But Daryl was desperate to find her after she was taken, so to finally find her and then have Beth die in front of his eyes was heartbreaking for him. It comes as no surprise that he immediately killed Dawn because of it.
Friend: Beth
Daryl can sometimes be an extremely jaded and pessimistic person, and he is a natural-born survivor. In that sense, he and Beth Greene were diametrically opposed to one another.
Beth didn't have the kind of disposition that makes it easy to live in the zombie apocalypse, but when she and Daryl were alone on the road together, they developed a relationship unlike any other. Beth's optimism really rubbed off on Daryl, and she gave him a renewed sense of hope after a terrible loss.
Enemy: The Governor
Daryl's not exactly the type of person to get comfortable easily, so seeing him thrive as such a pillar of the prison community was really a big change for him.
Daryl did a lot to fight for the prison and for his friends, so when the Governor appeared out of nowhere and ruined it all, Daryl largely blamed himself. He also felt guilty for not searching harder and longer for the Governor when he vanished, so out of all of the rivals Daryl has faced, this is one he took very personally.
Friend: Rick
To call Rick and Daryl friends would be an understatement, as they both see each other as brothers more than anything. Daryl has loved and lost many people, but it's hard to imagine him taking anything harder than he took Rick's apparent death.
After the time jump in The Walking Dead, it became clear that Daryl had never given up on Rick no matter how hopeless it seemed, and to be that devoted to a friend says a lot about their relationship.
Enemy: Dwight
The interplay between Daryl and Dwight seemed to eventually evolve into some sort of grudging respect with a modicum of forgiveness, but it's hard to think of anyone who has mistreated Daryl more than Dwight did.
Yes, he was doing it for Sherry and at the command of Negan, but the fact that Dwight became so fixated on Daryl was honestly downright bizarre. He began wearing Daryl's clothes, riding his bike, and he even murdered Denise using Daryl's crossbow.
Friend: Carol
The entire core group of The Walking Dead transformed into a found family, but Daryl and Carol are truly kindred spirits. Carol was the first person that Daryl really started opening up to, and given their pasts with abuse, they could relate to and understand each other in a way that the others just couldn't.
Even when Carol was seemingly responsible for Connie's death, Daryl couldn't bring himself to hate her for it. It comes as no surprise that Daryl and Carol will become the focus of their own TWD spinoff.
Enemy: Negan
Plenty of villains have done Daryl dirty throughout eleven seasons of the series, but no one has really made Daryl suffer in the way that Negan did.
Negan took Daryl away from his friends and home, and he tried to literally psychologically torture Daryl into submission so that he would join the Saviors. Of course, if all that wasn't enough, he also brutally murdered Glenn and blamed Daryl for it because Daryl couldn't help but react violently when Negan killed Abraham.