If you could play one character on The Walking Dead, who would it be?

2781 votes, 179 days, and it came down to 16 ballots: Rick took it 1204 to 1188 over the option of just playing a nameless walker. That's a 0.6-point margin on a poll that spent most of its life looking settled — Rick's side closed nearly the entire gap late and made it stick through the finish.

The near-tie hides two different crowds. Rick's voters ran 79% male; A Walker's were far more mixed at 58% male, meaning the photo finish was really two separate fan bases landing almost dead even. Shane and Lori split the remaining 14% and skewed heavily toward men and women respectively, but never threatened the top two.

• Photo finish · 1204 to 1188 — a 16-vote margin after 2781 votes cast
• Gender gap · Rick's crowd ran 79% male vs. 58% for A Walker
• US bucks the winner · America, the largest voting bloc, actually favored A Walker