Gabriel Stokes was the reverend of a regional community church. Not much of his personality or life before the outbreak has been revealed. The only detail given by the reverend was when he admitted to Rick and the rest of the group that during the initial zombie outbreak, he locked the doors to his church due to his own cowardice and allowed a whole group of survivors to be killed by roamers.

Gabriel claimed he had been living in the church's safety since the beginning of the epidemic, but the validity of his story, especially considering that it had been a full year since the outbreak began when the group encountered him, is questionable. Forced from the church due to dwindling supplies, Gabriel set out into the surrounding countryside and eventually ran into Rick Grimes and his group while they were on the road.

The group encountered Gabriel on the road at a chaotic time, in the aftermath of losing the prison to the Governor and during the heartbreaking dilemma involving the twins. Thus, the survivors were initially very suspicious of his presence and story, and did not trust him due to their weariness of other human survivors and conflict among the group. Gabriel tried to comfort them with his obvious appearance as a religious man, but most of them visibly expressed open distrust or disbelief of his presence and mannerisms. The moral dilemma involving Ben and Billy, and Dale's eventual fatal bite allowed Gabriel to blend into the group without too much difficulty as Rick and the other leaders were focused on the more pressing matters at hand. When it was discovered that Ben had killed Billy, Gabriel conducted prayers for the burial of both of the children.

Eventually, Gabriel led the survivors to his church for shelter while searching for the missing Dale, who had disappeared the night before. Rick eventually confronted Gabriel in the church, accusing him of being somehow involved in the disappearance of Dale and threatened him with violence. Gabriel then revealed his true story before meeting the group in tears. He expressed extreme remorse and guilt when he explained that he only survived several months alone in the church by turning away his followers and any other local civilians when the zombie attacks started. His main focus, he tried to emphasize to Rick, was to try and keep some spiritual faith for himself and the survivors, a sentiment which unfortunately was largely not shared. It did not take long for the group to soon discover a group of human Hunters were stalking them. The conflict escalated when Glenn was shot in the leg from afar when he and the others tried to rescue Dale, who was discovered partially mutilated in the front of the church entrance.

Gabriel was soon forced by Rick, Andrea, Michonne, and Abraham Ford to accompany them in finding the whereabouts of the Hunters, as he was the only member of their group who was familiar with the local area. When the group found the Hunters, Gabriel watched in horror as the group, led by Rick, brutally mutilated and murdered them in violent retaliation for their stalking and near fatal attacks on Dale and Glenn. Gabriel vocally expressed shock and outrage at their murder but Rick told him he was no better than them for turning people away from the church, silencing the reverend into submission.

Gender

Male

Hair

Black

Age

Late 30s

Occupation

Priest (Pre- and Post-Apocalypse)

Soldier for the Militia (Post-Apocalypse)

Family

Unknown

First Appearance

Issue 61

Last Appearance

Issue 159 (Cover)

Death Issue

Issue 158

Cause of Death

Gutted by Beta and left to be devoured by zombies.

Status

Dead

Series Lifespan

#61 to #158

Ethnicity

African-American