Charles Duncan

Charles Duncan is a former soldier who is unexpectedly dragged in to the heat of the outbreak and becomes the de facto leader for a group of survivors.

Pre-Outbreak
Charles was born sometime in the 1950's. He is a former soldier hardened by his days at war. Charles resided in the suburbs outside of Vegas and usually kept to himself. He was invited to go out for a night on the town by neighbor Cindy Sandford, an offer of which he accepted. He and Cindy met with Chloe Blake, a tourist at the bar and the three had a talk before the outbreak began and all hell broke loose.

The Outbreak (July 2009)
Charles became the de facto leader of a group of survivors, of which he lead them through the streets, a deserted church, and eventually joined up with a separate group lead by news reporter Ashley Ashcroft, allowing one of Charles' group members, teenager Gordon Parks, to reunite with his mother Jackie - a member of Ashley's group. The reuniting of their group didn't last long as a supposed army mercenary named Victor Ginovaef revealed himself to be one of the people responsible for the disaster and threw molotov cocktails in the middle of an abandoned farmland, causing a massive fire to split the group into two.

Revealing the identity of a mysterious company cryptically called The Project, Victor spills that Chloe is the reason that all of these people survived and that she was a test subject for the Project for numerous years. Charles stands by Chloe and defends her from numerous survivors who are wary of her supposed involvement until is learned that Chloe was the source of the antidote that was released, allowed for the survival of everyone alive right now.

Charles, Jackie and Gordon split from the group in the middle of the forest after an explosion was sighted at the sight of the Cradle, where Ashley's group was just at, leaving Chloe and Victor with fellow survivors Maya Olegaro, Enrique Olegaro and Griffin Gorman in an attempt for her to have her memories return to her. At the Cradle, Charles discovered the death of his friend Cindy in a sacrificial explosion. Charles, Jackie and Gordon uncovered a secret passageway that was opened leading to the sewers, where the man responsible for Cindy's sacrifice, Jack Terrier, is discovered with the rest of Ashley's group. Charles beats up the gravely injured Jack until he faints. Thinking Jack is dead - though he still blinks as the group leaves - Charles abandons him and tells the group that they are going back for the rest of the group to be reunited once more. As they move through the sewers, a dying Jack catches up to them, a bomb strapped to his chest. He blows himself up and the ceiling above them caves in, trapping them underground. Charles leads the group to safety, and when Ophie disappears, he goes back with Gordon to find her. The two find her, but she is dragged away by zombies and killed. Charles consoles Gordon and brings him to the surface.

After helping a couple of cops rebuild a subway train, rescuing Chloe, and heading to the docks and getting involved in a massive fight against zombies, Charles is among one of the final survivors alongside Chloe, Chelsea, Kara, Jackie, and Gordon. They are all rescued from Vegas by a rescue boat and watch as the once powerful city is lit up by a bomb and set ablaze.

After the Rescue (November 2009)
Charles sank into a deep depression and was haunted by visions of Cindy in the four months after his rescue. He changed his identity, alongside the other survivors, in order to seclude themselves from the Project. Charles attempts suicide by crashing his car into a lake, but Terrence Johnson, a supposed "innocent bystander" rescues him. It turns out that Terrence, known as T.J., is actually a former soldier working under the orders of discharged General William Ford, watching and protecting Charles. Ford visits Charles in the hospital and asks Charles for his help in a "war" against the Project. He explains that he suspects the Project has moles inside the government, and he was discharged for these beliefs. He has some loyal soldiers that quit along with him and are working to fight against the Project. Charles eventually agrees to it and goes with Ford in an attempt to recruit Jackie and Gordon to the "war", though Jackie refuses to allow herself or her son to get involved. They head to Ford's "base", an abandoned building attached to a parking garage. Ford asks Charles if he can go visit Chloe and attempt to recruit her. Charles says it will be hard, but says he will try.

Post-Apocalypse (April 2010)
Charles and Allegra Hart slaughter zombies in the devastated city of Los Angeles. They are heading their for supplies. They are later ambushed by trained mercenaries, leading Charles to believe that Davidoff is in town. Allegra says to stick to the mission, that the two of them alone cannot defeat Davidoff, especially if he has soldiers here. Charles fights his urge, and finally agrees with her. Allegra is attacked in a supermarket by its owner while gathering supplies, and she is forced to kill him. Charles goes in there to find her crying, but instead of comforting her, he tells her they have to get all the supplies they can and get back to base. Their "base" is an underground shelter in the middle of a forest, where they meet with William Ford. Ford tells them that T.J. has gone "off the radar" and they must find him.

Critical Reception
Charles is seen as one of the show's best and most definitive characters. He was nominated for "Outstanding Male Lead" in the Rightees 2009 award ceremony. He lost out to Tyler Carter, portrayed by Sam Worthington, of Tyler Carter of Mars.