AMC’s The Walking Dead has seen Rick and the gang take on many a sinister villain or antagonistic group in the past, but few rival the scare-factor of The Whisperers in seasons 9 and 10 of the hit drama.
A wolf-pack-like group of survivors that follow a strict chain of command and wear the faces of the dead, the Whisperers are clever, brutal, and ruthless. Disguising themselves to walk amongst hordes of Walkers and even weaponizing the living dead to use against their enemies, they are not only one of the most powerful groups featured in the show, but they are also the scariest.
"We're All Monsters Now"
Shortly after their first meeting with the man who would one day be known as Beta, a young Lydia looks up at her mother with scared eyes and asks if the tall, hulking figure is a monster.
Alpha - whose real name is never given in the show - isn't yet the terrifying leader of the Whisperers, but she clearly still holds the cold, animalistic beliefs that guide her as Alpha as she tells her that they are all monsters now.
"Kill The Boy"
By the season 9 episode "Guardians", the Whisperers are well established as dangerous adversaries to The Kingdom, Alexandria, and countless others, but Alpha kicks it up a notch when she orders her terrified teenage daughter to kill Henry.
Not only is she ordering a child to kill another child, but she is doing it purposely to test her loyalty, and to break the spirit of her own daughter.
"Wheeerreee Arrrreeee Theeeeey?"
If it isn't creepy enough that the Whisperers seem to be religiously obsessed with Walkers, coating themselves in blood and guts, and wearing masks made out of the dried and rotted flesh of the dead, their spooky way of communicating definitely does it.
The slow, hissed, and elongated speech that gives them their name is enough to send shivers down spines every time.
"The Only Reason You And Your Friends Are Alive Is Because I Let You Live"
Forcing Daryl on a trek up to a cliff, Alpha shows him her Walker horde below, assuring him that his group is only alive because she allows it. She goes on to tell him to "tell them the next time they cross over into my land, my horde will cross into theirs".
They later find that the marker for "her land" is the heads of their friends on pikes. Henry, Enid, and Tara are included among the dead.
"You'll Respect The Alpha, Or I End You Where You Stand"
This quote might seem run of the mill when it comes to the strict ranks of the Whisperers and Beta's dislike for Negan, but part of what makes their pack so daunting is Beta's fierce loyalty, and the other Whisperers' unwillingness to question Alpha's decisions or risk their own lives at her command.
In Rick's words, "this isn't a democracy". There is her word and her word only. Questioning or disrespecting "the Alpha" means death.
"If The Mother Can't Quiet The Child, Then The Dead Will. Natural Selection"
Above all, the Whisperers value silence. They have babies, "just like any other animals", but that doesn't mean that they survive.
The most sickening example of their commitment to this philosophy is when a baby wails for attention and with a nod from Alpha, he is set on the ground. There is no telling how many times this was done before, and no doubt that the baby would have been eaten if Connie hadn't rushed to his rescue.
"The Dead Don't Have Names, And We Shouldn't Either"
The Whisperer beliefs are not just a way of life, but Alpha's rules seek to empty her followers of their emotions, and even erases every bit of the identity that they once had. "Without names or a past, those of us strong enough to still be alive out here can know each other on a primal level."
Earning titles such as "Alpha", "Beta", and "Gamma", the Whisperers cast off their old names for ranks instead.
"We're Strongest When We Kill Our Own Blood. It Is The Purest Most Honest Way To Bring Order To Chaos"
Alpha is rarely portrayed as anything but heartless. Even when there are flickers of humanity, she pushes them down and refuses to let them be seen, killing anyone who catches glimpses of it.
This is especially obvious when Alpha gives a congratulatory speech to Gamma after the death of her sister, telling her that "as the lion that smothers her wailing cub", strength comes from killing one's own family.
"I Like It...The Sound Of The Dead. It's The Only Song I Never Want To End"
Beta is easily one of the most fascinating and mysterious villains in The Walking Dead. There is little explanation for why he prefers to wear masks, why he ended up at the hospital, or how he went from a famous musician to a zombie-obsessed killer.
Both a horrifying quote and a clever hint at Beta's fame-filled, country star past, he utters these words to Alpha in "We Are The End Of The World".
"We Walk In Darkness, We Are Free. We Bathe In Blood, We Are Free"
The Whisperer's chant is the stuff of nightmares, repeated in a bone-chilling, hissed unison. "We fear nothing, we are free. We need no words, we are free. We embrace all death, we are free. This is the end of the world. Now is the end of the world. We are the end of the world."
It doesn't get much scarier than a group claiming to embrace the dead and be the literal end of the world.