It’s not exaggerating to hail Telltale’s The Walking Dead as the underdog among the post-apocalypse games. Unlike others, The Walking Dead lets players tailor their story based on their split-second choices, thus giving them the freedom to decide the main character’s endgame.
The Walking Dead is the saga of Lee Everett and Clementine Crawford. Both met during such an uneasy and unprecedented time of zombie apocalypse and developed a robust father-and-daughter-like relationship. Each character might have their own strength and weakness, but there would no be Clementine without Lee at the end of the day, and vice versa.
Author’s Note: This list contains spoilers for Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
10 LEE: He Has Better Combat Skills
Being the oldest character from both has its perks for Lee. He’s a capable combatant, and a handy gunman too if needed. Although it’s up for the players to choose his approach on things, Lee always stood up for his loved ones, and he’s never to go the extra mile for them even if it means death.
His excellent combat skill is proven by how many times armed humans or walkers danger his life, but he managed to fend them off in a split-second fight.
9 CLEMENTINE: She Actually Survived
At the end of the day, the aim of survival games and zombie fiction is to, well, survive. Lee might be a way better combatant, but Clementine was the only survivor left from Lee’s motel group at the end of the finale.
Kenny’s fate was determinant, but he’s either dead by Clem’s doing or the walkers. Omid was killed, while Christa’s whereabouts are unknown. Lilly, later, joined a militant group, only to meet Clementine at the finale and die at the end of it.
8 LEE: Without Him, Clementine Would Be Dead
If it wasn’t for Lee sacrificing his life by passing through an endless herd of walkers to find Clementine at the end of the first season, she would have never survived. She would be either cut limbs by limbs by the walkers (or even worse, her walker parents) or killed by the stranger — props to him for that.
Players are free to tell Clementine whether to spare Lee or to shoot him to prevent reanimation. Either way, it’s their choice, but killing Lee would make a better storyline.
7 CLEMENTINE: She Led a Group of Teens Against a Much More Armed Group
Then, Clementine spent a considerable amount of time as a lone wolf survivor with Alvin ‘Goofball’ Jr. She’s witnessed so many groups falling apart, hence the decision, but later found a place to call home at Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youths.
Like Lee, Clementine has a magnet that drove people around her, and she showed good leadership among the boarding school kids. Later in the Season Finale, Clementine and company plotted a quest to fight back against the Delta, a militia raiders group that consistently attacked them.
6 LEE: He’s More Mature
Years of life must have taught Lee a plethora of lessons. By the events of the first season, Lee Everett was approximately 37-year-old. He was a man of wisdom who wanted nothing but the best for his loved ones, even though his anger might sometimes hinder his real intention. Meanwhile, Clementine was a kid whose life was just starting when the world ended.
Before the game, Lee caught himself in hot water after finding his wife sleeping with a state’s senate. He was on his way to the Meriwether County Correctional Facility before a walker ran into the police car he was in, killing the police in the process.
5 CLEMENTINE: She Took Care of AJ Since He Was Born
While Lee had never tasted the slightest bit of a fatherhood’s life, Clementine took care of Alvin Junior after his mother’s passing on the second season where she was only 11-year-old. He always looked up to Clementine and considered her a maternal figure.
The two have spent their lives on the run, and for this reason, Alvin Jr. has a lackluster social skill. It’s up for the players to choose what to teach AJ, and the two have always been protective of each other.
4 LEE: He’s Smarter
Before the event of the first season, Lee was a historian. He taught at the University of Georgia for more than six years; therefore, it’s reasonable if Lee demonstrated a lot of wisdom values and enlightenment throughout his life, especially by the time of the apocalypse.
On the other hand, Clementine was only 8 or 9 by the event. Although she was a smart kid with plenty of academic accomplishments, she was yet to find her walk of life.
3 CLEMENTINE: She Was An Innocent Kid While Lee Was a Convicted Murderer
Lee was never a perfect man. Before the end of the world, Lee was convicted of a murder of a state senator whom he found sleeping with his wife. A physical altercation between them was inevitable, with Lee accidentally killing him. Then, Lee was arrested, his marriage fell apart, and his family didn’t even want to see him.
Clementine, conversely, was a pure, innocent soul at the beginning. She believed in nothing but a good storybook and playing with her babysitter.
2 CONCLUSION: Lee Everett
Looking for a man who’s never afraid to get his hands dirty and go the extra mile? Lee Everett is the guy for it. He has wisdom, and he always breaks mental & physical boundaries for people he loves.
Sometimes, his anger gets the best off him and hinders him from communicating the best way possible with them, but never means anything but good by them. He’s also a perfect combatant, even way more superior than Clementine.
1 CONCLUSION: Clementine Crawford
Looking for a better-developed character who went from a clumsy kid to a badass survivor? Clementine Crawford should be your consideration. Just like her spiritual father figure, Clementine is also a capable leader. It’s hard to pinpoint precisely, given that most of Lee’s traits are also Clem’s, but she is a fast learner.
She might not be a better combatant than Lee, but Clementine’s strength drastically developed as time passes. Having featured on all the four seasons also made Clementine a better-developed character by far.
