Michonne is a sword-wielding survivor who made her first appearance in the season finale episode, Beside the Dying Fire in Season 2 and appeared in Season 3 of The Walking Dead. Not much is known about Michonne prior to the apocalypse, since she keeps the details private. It is suggested Andrea may know a little about her life, however it still appears to be little, as detailed in the episode Walk With Me that Andrea barely knows anything about Michonne, to which she replies: "you know enough."

Danai Gurira was born in Grinnell, Iowa to parents from Zimbabwe, when her father was teaching Chemistry at Grinnell College. When she was 5, the family moved back to Zimbabwe. Gurira studied social psychology at Macalaster College, and received an MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is the co-author of the play "In the Continuum" with Nikkole Salter. She was nominated for a 2007 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "In the Continuum" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. Danai has made appearances on shows such as "Treme," Law & Order," "Lie to Me," "American Experience," and "Life on Mars." She has played a role in movies such as The Visitor (for which she won the 2008 Best Supporting Actress award at the Method Fest), My Soul to Take, Restless City, and Ma' George. Danai was cast as Michonne for Season 3 of AMC's The Walking Dead in the spring of 2012. In order to portray Michonne's katana skills, Danai had to train with a sword for several weeks. In October 2012, Danai won a Whiting Writers Award.