The Walking Dead's 'best boy' Seven the dog has sadly passed away

The bravest doggo to ever face the zombie apocalypse has passed away.

Seven, a Belgian Malinois, fast became a fan-favourite in The Walking Dead despite being a latecomer to the series.

As expected, the “heartbreaking” news has rocked the fandom and cast, with both quick to express their affection for the daring TV doggo.

From season nine onwards, this loyal companion to Norman Reedus’ Daryl Dixon stayed in the hearts and minds of fans right through until the finale.

Love for Seven was so strong that fans even petitioned to protect them from danger (in the show, of course).

Both the AMC and The Walking Dead Twitter accounts posted about Seven’s passing with short but heartfelt captions, the first of which reads: “Rest in peace, Seven. #TWD's best boy.”

What broke us the most, though, was seeing this caption from The Walking Dead, “All dogs go to heaven. Rest in Peace, Seven.”

From there, multiple outpourings of condolences came from across the globe.

Reedus’ social media posts were also short in length, but that didn’t mean they lacked meaning; on Instagram, the actor dedicated a grid post to Seven in which he shared a photo of the two of them together.

Fans responded in doves, with one saying, “RIP Seven, we loved you.”

Elsewhere on social media, another tribute read, “Rest In Peace Seven. Thank You for playing our one and only ‘Dog’. You'll be missed. Be free and happy.”

Although the news is incredibly sad, the sea of messages has demonstrated just how much of a lasting impact this brave boy left on us all.

Seven’s 20 plus episode streak has ensured that the fearless canine will go down in the history books as the dog that helped humanity survive the zombie hordes, and themselves.

Rest in peace to the “bestest TV buddy ever”, you’ll be dearly missed.