Leon Dawson

"'Nicole, I always trusted you, even when I first met you, I know that if we hadn't met you then Charlie, Chris and Jenny would be alive. But Penelope could have killed you all as well.'"

Leon Dawson is a main character and the protagonist in Season 1 of The Hell that Walks.Unknown

Personality
Leon is kind and friendly, and a very willing and determined person. He is additionally known for his physical power, being able to intimidate people and being the brawn to Matt's brains. When the apocalypse started, he retained some of his pre-apocalypse traits and eventually became the de-facto leader of the group.

However, further into the apocalypse, Leon started becoming more demanding and ruthless, such as when he berated Matt for bringing in few supplies and when he killed Ernie and Todd in gruesome ways, which led to Matt questioning Leon's sanity.

Pre-Apocalypse
Leon was born in Texas, and moved to Alabama when he was twelve. He became interested in sports and eventually joined the football team. Around this time, he also met Matt, whom he defended from a bully and eventually became best friends with Matt. Eventually, they both graduated high school and college together and moved into an apartment, where Leon became more interested in parties than career choices.

Montgomery, Alabama
When the outbreak occurred, he and Matt were at a party. When Leon hears knocking at the door, he opens it and a dead man falls in. While Mitch and Chloe argued, Leon noticed the bite on the man's neck, and is horrified to see the man stand up and bite Mitch on the face.

This New Life
Leon first appears in episode one, having a humorous conversation with Matt and eventually finding a cabin, which they settle down in. After Matt is panicked when a dead beastie falls on top of him and fighting off another one, he plays rock, paper, scissors with Matt to see who gets supplies, which Leon won. Later, he has a flashback detailing his first few days until he accidentally knocks a wheelbarrow over and gets attacked by beasties, but is saved by Matt and Tyler.

He is reluctant to bring Tyler in, as they don't have enough food, but agrees. He then lashes out at Matt over the lack of food he found, and decides to go with Tyler to look for food. After a brief conversation, Leon and Tyler are held at gunpoint by Drew, Fiona, and Samuel, who ask if they are bandits. Leon convinces them and seeing the supplies, allows them to stay with them.

When Leon sees Matt being held up by Thompson's group, he panics and shoots Thompson in the head, causing a gunfight. He witnesses Samuel get shot in the leg and manages to kill a second bandit by stabbing him in the neck. He is almost killed by another bandit, but Matt saves him.

Later, he is confronted by the group of Eli, Chris, and Jenny, and gets into a heated argument with Chris. He shows shock when Matt agrees with Jenny over making peace, and over Matt's offer to allow them to join them. He then talks to the new group, and makes the decision to head to the farmhouse.

When leaving, Leon shows the most concern when Matt is almost bitten by the bandit he stabbed earlier, and later has yet another humorous conversation with him. He then comforts Eli after seeing the undead child, but the comfort doesn't last long as Drew and Fiona get ambushed by beasties. He is able to save Drew, but not Fiona, leading to Drew to lash out at him. He later puts Fiona out of her misery.

The People that Change
After three weeks, Leon has become the de facto leader of the group, and is seen talking with Matt about the group. When mentioning the bandit attack a few weeks ago, they begin having a hostile argument, leading to Matt storming out. While annoyed, he knows extreme concern for Matt.

Later, he is caught in a vine and encounters Nicole, who gets him out. She takes him to her group, where he is almost killed by Penelope. He is able to overpower her and finds Matt, who had injured himself. When Penelope tries to reclaim her gun and the gun goes off and attracts beasties, the two of them, along with Nicole, Penelope, Charlie, and Ray escape. He is later present when Ray is revealed to be bitten and shot out of mercy by Drew.

He is then angered by Penelope's suggestion to throw his body to the beasties and her desire to become leader. He then challenges her to see if she can bring back more supplies, which she eagerly accepts. Leon takes Drew, Samuel, and Tyler with him, and decides to go check another cabin. He is unaware that Samuel was shot dead and Tyler and Drew were captured.

Our Evils and Sins
Leon returns in this episode, attacking and brutally killing Ernie and Todd and leaving Wendell for dead. He escapes with Tyler, Drew, and Zoey. He proceeds to tease Drew about Zoey until they find Terrance, who was knocked out by Leon. Despite his intentions to leave him, he decides to save him and brings him back to the base. He then notices Penelope's reaction, and grows suspicious of her. While talking with Chris and Jenny, they are interrupted by Wendell and his group. Wendell requests Leon give himself up, which Penelope does immediately. Wendell begins to hit Leon over and over, and when he is about to cut off Leon's arm, Nicole shoots Wendell in the head, once again prompting a gunfight.

Leon, along with the group, is able to escape in a truck, but does seem to have much of a reaction when hearing about the fact they left Jenny behind. When Matt hits a deer, Leon is among the people to get out and witness Penelope's murder of Chris. He and Matt chase her, but he gives up when he realizes Penelope got away, and is later at Chris's burial.

A Ray of Hope
After the burial, Leon took over driving and realizing the truck was about to run out of gas, requested everyone fan out and find some. Leon was noticeably surprised when Tyler told about the time he accidentally killed his unborn brother. Once again, Matt and Leon have a humorous conversation, but are interrupted when they find Terrance and another man caught in a snare trap. Leon considers killing Terrance, but lets him live. He and Matt talk to the other man, who introduces himself as Henry, and is willing to give them gas in exchange for women, which Leon is visibly disgusted and mortified at. In retaliation, he forcefully takes the gas and attacks Henry, much to Matt's surprise.

Later, he is seen saving Nicole and angrily snapping at Drew and Zoey for having sex behind a rock while Nicole was being attacked, causing Matt to intervene and have Leon let up. He is among the group who encounter a mangled and mortally wounded Charlie. When Charlie finally dies, Leon declares that the group should kill Penelope.

In the truck, Leon asks Matt about his intervention and have a few laughs until their truck crashes, courtesy of Penelope's group. With him and Matt being the only ones to escape, Penelope reveals she had been watching them. She then proceeds to cut off Matt's right pinkie and pull out one of Leon's teeth. They are both taken captive.

O' Death
Leon appears with Matt, held captive by Penelope's group and being put through two different challenges. Leon's challenge is arm-wrestling with a man called Michael, which he loses when Penelope distracts him. When Penelope orders Terrance to kill him, Leon pulls Michael in front of the bullet, which kills him. He then witnesses Matt's challenge, which is to kill a wolf.

A while later, he and Matt are set to be executed above a beastie pit, and Leon was up first. However, Terrance betrayed Penelope and shot her dead, and helped him and Matt escape. When they get to the base, Leon is horrified to learn Matt was bitten, and doesn't waste much time before amputating. He encounters an alive Nicole, and later appears in Matt's nightmare as a beastie.

When Matt wakes up, he is very relived and comforts him until a herd comes by, forcing the entire base to evacuate. He stays by Matt while passing through with guts, but when Peter is killed, Leon and Matt are separated. The last we see of Leon is running through the horde with Nicole.

Heath later comforts Matt about the possible death of Leon.

Killed Victims
This is a list of victims Leon has killed.
 * Thompson
 * Derek (Alive and zombified)
 * Fiona (Out of Mercy)
 * Samuel (Indirectly Caused)
 * Ernie (Alive)
 * Todd (Alive)
 * Penelope Marshton (Indirectly caused)

Mattias (Matt) Harris
Leon and Matt were best friends before the apocalypse, and have stuck with each other through thick and thin. When at the cabin, he begins joking with him. However, throughout the epidemic, he starts to have more hostile arguments with Matt, with them both having different ideologies. When Matt is bitten, Leon is distraught and terrified, and wastes no time amputating his arm, showing Leon still heavily cares about him. After Leon and Matt are separated, Matt is depressed over his presumed death, and is not over it.

Tyler
Initially, Leon thought Tyler would be a drain on resources. However, as time went on, Leon began to trust Tyler more, even taking him on the supply run to beat Penelope. Tyler later went on to describe Leon as one of the most respectable people he'd met.

Drew
While their first encounter was hostile due to Drew mistaking him and Tyler for bandits, they quickly warmed up to each other. However, their relationship soured when Leon failed to save Fiona, sending Drew into a deep depression. Additionally, Leon was angered when rather than help Nicole, Drew had sex with Zoey. Regardless, Drew eventually forgave Leon and was worried when Leon and Matt were missing, not knowing they had been captured.

Fiona
While they knew each other for a brief time, it can be assumed after their hostile encounter was resolved they became good acquaintances. When Fiona is killed, Leon is remorseful and shoots Fiona out of mercy.

Samuel
While their relationship was not explored much, it can be assumed since he took Samuel on the trip against Penelope and was saddened by his death that he had a good relationship with him.

Eli
Leon highly respects Eli, and looks at him as a father figure, and if Eli were to ever get mad, he would tolerate it. When Leon finds Eli crying over the dead child that looks like his son, he is sympathetic with him.

Chris
Their first encounter was rather hostile, as Chris was the most aggressive of him, Eli, and Jenny. However, he puts those feelings aside and becomes trusting of him. When Chris is shot dead by Penelope, he is saddened and enraged.

Jenny
While not interacting much, it can be assumed Leon had a good relationship with her, although he doesn't show a reaction when realizing she was left behind. When Matt reunites with Jenny, Jenny shows sadness over Leon's presumed death.

Nicole
Leon was originally skeptical of her when they first met, but quickly warmed up to her. Their relationship got to the point where Leon seemed to have a crush on her, but it is unknown how Nicole feels about him.

Charlie
While not seen interacting much, it is shown Leon cares for Charlie and was devastated by his death.

Ray
While only interacting briefly, Leon showed a bit of care for Ray after he distracted Penelope. He was shocked and a bit saddened by Ray's death.

Zoey
While not interacting much, Leon cares a bit about Zoey, although he criticizes her for having sex with Drew while Nicole was being attacked.

Terrance
Originally, their relationship was hostile due to Terrance being affiliated with Penelope's group, and did not hesitate to knock him out upon their first encounter. He later encounters Terrance again stuck in a trap, and with the death of Chris recently occurring, he is tempted to kill him, but reluctantly spares him. His relationship with him sours even more when he thinks Terrance told Penelope's group about their location. However, all hatred towards him is forgotten when he kills Penelope, saving Leon's life. When Terrance then tells Leon about his past, Leon is sympathetic towards him, showing he had forgiven him to an extent.

Heath
While not interacting much, it can be assumed that Leon trusts Heath due to his willingness to help Matt. Heath later comforts Matt after Leon's presumed death, showing Heath could possibly care about him.

Henry
Their initial encounter was hostile, as Leon was disgusted by Henry's attempt to prostitute Nicole and Zoey. It continues when Leon along with Matt constantly call Henry a pop star.

Thompson's Group
Leon was incredibly hostile towards Thompson's group, and did not hesitate to shoot them dead to save Matt.

Todd
Leon was incredibly hostile towards Todd due to him being part of Penelope's group, and did not hesitate to kill him.

Ernie
Leon was incredibly hostile towards Ernie due to him being part of Penelope's group, and did not hesitate to kill him.

Wendell
Wendell is second only to Penelope on most hostile relationships when it comes to Leon, with Leon suggesting Wendell being left for dead and Wendell wanting revenge.

Penelope Marshton
Leon and Penelope despise each other, with Leon hating her for her personality and murder of Chris and Charlie, with the latter being the final straw and wanting to see her dead, and is elated when Terrance shoots her dead.

Trivia

 * Leon's personality is modeled after the author's desires, with only a few tweaks.


 * Leon's original name was Nick, but was changed after a falling out.
 * His new name was based off of Leon S. Kennedy, a character from Resident Evil.


 * Leon's full name is Leon Richard Dawson.
 * Matt and Leon represent brains and brawn, with Leon representing brawn.
 * Matt and Leon had a YouTube channel where they read bad fanfiction, notably My Immortal.
 * Leon is more lucky with women than Matt.
 * It is mentioned Leon went on a safari with Matt, and had his hair gnawed on by a giraffe.
 * Leon was originally going to be killed by being thrown into the beastie pit.


 * Leon along with Matt are wrestling fans.
 * His personal favorite is The Undertaker.