Before You Meet the Campus Colony and CRM, Get a Look at Every Organized Community in The Walking Dead Universe
One of the most intriguing aspects of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, will certainly be getting to see at least two of the most developed communities in the apocalypse: the CRM and the Campus Colony of Omaha. For years everyone has been dying to see what exactly the CRM looks like, and getting to know the Campus Colony as well is just icing on the apocalyptic cake. Couple that with Angela's Kang's recent reveal at Comic-Con@Home that the Commonwealth is coming to The Walking Dead, and fans are poised for a golden age of new communities.
Read More: Everything We Know About the Commonwealth
There have always been great communities within the TWD Universe. Part of the fun of the series is encountering new societies with their own rules and quirks (hello, Jadis and the garbage dump people!) Each of these communities brings something new to the table, and while many have been wiped out by mergers, walkers, the elements, and by each other over the years, they each deserve recognition.
Watch: The Epic Final Season TWD Begins in 2021:
The Walking Dead
West Georgia Correctional Facility (aka the Prison)
Rick, Daryl, and the survivors' first attempt to make their own home didn't end well. This certainly wouldn't be the last home they built up only to watch fall. Yet the Prison is significant as the place of Judith's birth, Lori's death, and proof to Rick and the group that building a real community is possible. While it ultimately falls, this community withstands disease, an attack from the Governor, and it takes a literal tank to meet its end.
Woodbury
Before Woodbury, the apocalypse was all about just wandering around, getting picked off one by one. Woodbury was the first developed, permanent settlement the survivors encountered. Was it run by a madman who tried to (or did) kill pretty much everyone in the group and caused a full-scale war, only to be put down by Michonne's sword? Yes! But he was a madman with a plan for survival, that didn't involve waiting for someone else to rescue him. That's huge. Plus, as the show's first truly iconic villain, the Governor set the tone for future communities, from the Saviors to the Whisperers.
Terminus
Not every community settled on a schtick, but Terminus found what worked for them and went with it. In this case, that was a entire society devoted to luring people into a complicated trap so they could be eaten. Sure, Terminus' leader, Garrett, had a complicated backstory of pain and loss, but who doesn't? Again, this is a society that existed solely on the premise of eating people! Surely there was an easier way? Oddly, there was plenty of evidence this worked for them, at least until they started "screwing with the wrong people," and were brutally murdered by Rick and the gang.
Grady Memorial Hospital
Hey, it's another society built on a completely nightmarish system! While not as viscerally disturbing as cannibalism, the Hospital is an equally disturbing place. It operates thanks to a form of slavery where they treat "patients," and then those patients have to endlessly work off their debt, often sexually. It's hard to feel any sympathy towards this place and it's another one that Rick walked into and destroyed.
Alexandria
Finally, somebody who is at least trying to have a good society. Deanna's original community is probably the most utopian community in the entire TWDU, with power, rules, and a shocking lack of violence. While the survivors' arrival eventually ruins that (mostly because Rick gets involved in a love triangle with a married couple), Alexandria may have fallen to somebody like the Wolves or Negan anyway. So what's amazing, is that at least for a moment, Alexandria survived and excelled.
The Wolves
Calling the Wolves "organized" is a stretch, and even using the term "community" might be pushing the truth, but they are certainly a society of sorts. We don't know much about them, but what we do know isn't great. They scavenge, lure the unwitting into their traps, and carve a "W" into the forehead of their victims. Fortunately while they are vicious, unlike actual wolves, they don't appear to be very bright. They spent most of their time carving "Wolves Not Far" into things, giving away their location, and the one time we saw them en masse, they attacked a heavily armed Alexandria with literally all their manpower and were wiped out.
The Saviors
He might be a good guy now (sort of), but back when he was the big bad wolf, Negan built the most impressive community of the early days of the apocalypse. It was more of an empire than a simple community, comprised of not only his home base, the Sanctuary, but numerous outposts and a number of vassal communities. They all paid homage, in the form of half of what was theirs -- at gunpoint of course -- to their boss. As far as bad-guy, community-building achievements go, that's better than living in an abandoned train station and eating people.
Hilltop
Pour one out for the Hilltop, former home of Maggie, Jesus, and Tara, which was razed to the ground by the Whisperers, but not before it served as a refuge for the survivors' for many years. From behind the Hilltop's walls, the group survived battles with the Saviors, walkers, and its duplicitous leader Gregory. There were good times here.
The Kingdom
Another great community now in the dust. This one was brought down not by external enemies or Rick's inability to not hook up with a psychopath's wife, but by the elements, rotting buildings, fire, and one monster blizzard. By the time Ezekiel makes the decision to abandon his kingdom, it had endured for many years with a rich legacy as a thriving community known for its balanced society and its martial prowess. Plus, they had a f*cking tiger.
Scavengers
This wouldn't be everyone's ideal place to live, but it's certainly a unique choice. The Scavengers reside in the Heaps, which is a euphemism for a garbage dump. As their name indicates, they scavenge, and strangest of all, speak in a halting, jerking style where they leave out all but a few critical words. This community is brought down because Simon is a sadist, but its leader Jadis (AKA Anne) endures, and takes off with Rick and a new community, the CRM.
Oceanside
This reclusive seaside group is unique for a few reasons. For starters, it's a woman-only community, though not necessarily by choice -- Negan did murder all the men. They also managed to remain largely hidden for the better part of a decade. Armed with their spears and tucked away in their seaside motor court, the Oceansiders cut a distinctive figure in the TWDU. They eventually become part of the Coalition that includes Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom, and suffered the same fate at the hands of the Whisperers as the rest of the Coalition.
Fear the Walking Dead
La Colonia
If Woodbury was the first developed society seen by Rick's survivors on The Walking Dead, La Colonia plays the same role for Fear's Nick. Granted, it had only been a few weeks since Nick was living in his own home, but he was still amazed by what he found. He was particularly fascinated by Alejandro, the prophet who claims to be immune to the virus. While Alejandro is a fraud, and La Colonia is brought down by viscous gangsters in short order, the community is intriguing nonetheless. La Colonia provides a glimpse into people with extreme beliefs, particularly those that worship the dead.
Broke Jaw Ranch
This survivalist encampment full of white supremacists would be a haven in the apocalypse except for one thing: the fact that it's full of white supremacists. That's bad enough on its own, but it also means they're at constant war with their Native American neighbors. The escalating conflict, combined with a drought, leads to both group's downfalls, and the death of leader Jeremiah Otto. This all happens while Madison and her family get intricately involved in a wild generational conflict. If you can't find home with a bunch of gun-toting survivalists, where can you find home?
Gonzalez Dam
The Dam was troubled from the first moment we see it. First off it's ruled over by Dante, a thug in a suit, who tries to kill Strand. Even in its later idealistic phase, governed by Lola and her enforcer, Daniel Salazar, the Dam couldn't survive getting caught in the middle of the Clark family's many personal beefs. When Nick blew this place to hell, literally, it wouldn't be the first community he'd leave in his dust.
Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium
This was first (and to date only) real attempt by Madison and her band of survivors at building their own permanent community, and it went genuinely well for a while. Madison gets her dream of a place to settle down with her kids, and things seem, dare we say, good for a while. Fast forward to one self-destructive trap by the Vultures later, and said Vultures are wiped out, a herd has been sicced on the stadium, Madison's dream is dead, and she sacrifices her life so the remnant of the community can merely escape with theirs.
The Vultures
Led by Mel, the Vultures claim to sit around and wait for communities to die out so they can take what's left. Like vultures. Get it? But that's not really true. They tweak the circumstances, by sending in spies like Charlie, to spark the collapse of these communities. Their supposed commitment to not outright murder people for their stuff, gives them a moral edge over the Negan's of the world. But sitting around and rooting for other communities to die out is pretty despicable, and actively attempting to spark a community's demise is downright evil. One thing you can't take away from the Vultures—or at least their leaders, brothers Mel and Ennis—they are quite stylish.
Virginia's Network
If anyone has come close to matching Negan, it's Virginia, who has a network of settlements all under her control. So far we haven't seen much, but if what we know about Season 6 is any indication, she has a far-reaching empire and can wipe out anyone who opposes her and her Pioneers. Alicia and Strand's group now find themselves under her rule, dispersed within Virginia's empire, so we'll soon get to see just how far this villain's thumb extends.
Watch: Teaser for Fear Season 6:
The Walking Dead: World Beyond
Campus Colony of Omaha
Home to sisters Iris and Hope, and their friends Silas and Elton, the Campus Colony community is actually a satellite to an even larger surviving civilization. They are part of the three rings of the Civic Republic. We don't know enough yet and everything in the apocalypse has a dark side, but the Campus Colony looks... nice. There are modern facilities, power, and the types of touches that Daryl Dixon could only have dreamed of while living in the woods (or maybe would not have wanted. He is Daryl after all).
Watch the World Beyond "Three Rings" Teaser:
CRM
The other of the three rings we know about is armed, ominous, clad in all black, and dangerous. Where did they get their weapons? Where did they take Rick? What is Elizabeth's goal? So far there are many more questions than answers about this community, but here is what we do know. Back in the early days of the apocalypse, the CRM had somehow procured a ton of military firepower and technology. They were then able to expand their presence all the way from Virginia to Texas, and exchanged supplies for people. It's not clear what they did with the people they procured, such as Rick. By the time the events of World Beyond take place, they are a large, formidable force led by Elizabeth, and the military arm of the three rings society, devoted to rebuilding the world at all costs.
While that's every community we've seen on The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, have met characters from, or have solid information about from what we know about The Walking Dead: World Beyond, there's another very, very big community coming soon: the Commonwealth. Read everything we know from the comics about this exciting new development so far here.
Watch: Scott M. Gimple on Who Took Rick Grimes
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