Otis (TV Series)

For the comic book character, see Otis (Comic Series).

"I'm responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this fella takes this on alone." —Otis about Shane getting supplies on his own.

Otis was the ranch hand for Hershel Greene and his family, having worked on the farm for several years.

Hershel's Farm
Otis was employed by Hershel years back as a ranch foreman. At some point, he also became an occasional volunteer Emergency Medical Technician who worked with the local fire department. He had Patricia as a wife and presumably the two of them lived in the same house as the Greene family. He also knew how to play the guitar and was interested in the sport of hunting.

Season 2
At some unknown time, Otis located the zombified Sophia Peletier and placed her into the barn on Hershel's Farm.

Bloodletting
Otis was in the woods hunting for a deer to feed his fellow survivors. He tracked a buck and shot it, but the bullet passed through and hit Carl as well. Otis took Rick, Carl, and Shane to Hershel's Farm where they discovered that Carl was critically injured by the bullet, suffering internal bleeding. Feeling immense guilt for shooting Carl, he took Shane to a nearby former high school, now a FEMA command post, to scavenge for the needed medical supplies. Upon reaching the school, they discovered that the school had been overrun with Walkers. Using road flares from a nearby police interceptor, they created a diversion to lure the Walkers away from a medical supply trailer. Inside the trailer they were able to find all of the supplies needed, but upon leaving it, they discovered that the Walkers had lost interest in the flares and were once again swarming around the trailer. Otis and Shane made a run for safety, hoping to make it back to their truck. They were cut off and forced to break in to the school, shutting themselves inside with the security gate.

Save The Last One
The Walkers have broken through the flimsy security gate and pursue Otis and Shane through the hallways of the abandoned school. Otis and Shane ended up in the gymnasium and were able to take refuge on top of the bleachers and formulate a plan. Otis thinned out the group of Walkers, while Shane busted through and jumped out of a nearby window. Otis, who was too overweight to fit through the window, took advantage of the diversion that Shane made. And jumped down and made for the locker room where he was able to find a larger window to break out of. Otis and Shane eventually met up outside of the school, but continue to be pursued by a group of walkers. Guns pop as ammo supplies dwindle, the pursuing herd growing ever-larger.

The two grow fatigued and Shane falters, pleading Otis to take the medical supplies and go on without him. Otis refuses and instead helps Shane to his feet and they press on together. They quickly run out of ammo and are forced to start using their pistols. At their pace, they are likely to be overtaken and eaten. Shane, knowing that Otis would likely doom them both instead of leaving him behind (ultimately dooming Carl too), decides that the best chance to save Carl is for him to leverage Otis as a diversion so that he can get away with the vital medical supplies.

Shane Walsh (Caused)
Shane apologizes to Otis and shoots him in the leg with his last round. He then tries to strip Otis of his backpack and weapons. However, Otis is enraged by the betrayal and fights with Shane. Otis grabs Shane by the hair to hold him down while Shane repeatedly pistol whips him as the walkers close in. Otis tries to shoot Shane with his last bullet but misses due to the chaos of the struggle. Shane finally strips the supplies away from him and manages to sprint away just as the walkers catch up (though he loses a chunk of hair from Otis in the process, prompting Shane to shave his head bald to hide the murder).

Walkers
Shane then stumbles away to the pickup truck as the walkers tear Otis apart and eat him. Otis's remains, if there are any, are most likely reanimated.

In the episode, "Pretty Much Dead Already", Dale asks Shane if he is going to kill him like he did Otis. It has not been revealed how Dale knows of the true circumstances of Otis' death. It is possible that Dale knows Shane well enough to see through his lies. Another explanation is that Dale realized the same way Daryl did, Shane arrived back with Otis' gun after telling a story of how Otis stayed behind (presumably with his gun) to cover Shane's escape.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Otis has killed:

Numerous counts of zombies.

Patricia
Otis and Patricia were married and loved each other deeply. Otis told Patricia he had to go and help get the medicine with Shane for Carl since it was his fault he got shot. While Otis was gone, Patricia worried about him. When Shane came back and told Hershel Otis was dead, Hershel told Shane that he would tell Patricia after she helps Carl because he needed her help. After Carl was patched up Rick and Hershel told Patricia the news. She burst into tears. The next day at Otis' funeral. Patricia asked Shane to say some words since he was the last person with Otis. She was seen crying at the funeral.

Season 2
202. "Bloodletting"

203. "Save the Last One"

204. "Cherokee Rose" (Flashback)

207. "Pretty Much Dead Already" (Mentioned)

208. "Nebraska" (Mentioned)

Trivia
Otis is called "The idiot who shot my son", by Lori Grimes.

In the comic series, Otis appears to be much younger than his television counterpart, as well as being much thinner, and having a full head of red hair. In the TV series, however, he is overweight and bald.

In the comic series, Otis continued to live until halfway through the prison story arc, as opposed to dying because of Shane before the prison in Season 3.

Prior to his death, Otis found the zombified Sophia and placed her into the barn on Hershel's Farm. Prior to the arrival of Rick and the other survivors, Otis is the only resident on Hershel's farm in possession of a gun.

Otis is second of the four people among the survivors to fall victim to friendly fire; first was Carl Grimes, Daryl Dixon was the third. and Dale Horvath was the fourth.

Shane and Rick are the only members of their group that met Otis, as he was absent when the group arrived on Hershel's farm since he was killed by Shane.

Otis is the first human character killed in Season 2 (on-screen).