For the fans of survival games, Telltale’s The Walking Dead is no stranger to them. Set in the United States’ post-apocalyptic modern world, The Walking Dead gives players an immersive experience and lets them tailor the endgame as they choose.
Over the course of all the four seasons, players will meet at least three playable protagonists: Clementine Crawford, a clever young girl who was rescued by Lee Everett before his passing, and Javier Garcia, someone who aspired to be a baseball player before the world ends. The following list contains five strengths of each Clem and Javi; and major spoilers too!
Author’s Note: This list contains spoilers for both The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
10 CLEMENTIME: She’s a Tough Lone Wolf
Over the years, Clementine has witnessed so many survivor groups fall apart, either betrayed by a fellow member or devoured by the walkers. For example, in the first season, Clementine saw Lee had to make not-so-easy decisions to survive. Despite his very best effort to keep the group tight, everything went south.
Right after the first season’s events, Clementine hanged tight as a lone wolf after parting ways with Omid and Christa. By the beginning of A New Frontier, those tragic events drove her to be a lone wolf and refrain herself from any group.
9 JAVI: He Leads a Community
It took Javi months to finally grow up and prioritize what should be of paramount importance to him. By the end of A New Frontier, Javi and his sweetheart Kate (Determinant) led the community of The New Frontier, formed by a former soldier and his own blood brother, David.
Although Clementine is also a leader, The New Frontier is a much bigger society than the Ericson’s Boarding School for Troubled Youths. It definitely takes a lot more to lead a big community like that.
8 CLEMENTINE: She’s Grew To Be A Good Leader
Thanks to Lee for passing his wisdom and guide during the last few days of his life, Clementine has grown into a capable leader. She knows how to survive independently, yet she also understands what to do if a group of people relies on her. Even during the first season, Lee and other characters would come to her and ask about her opinion on a particular thing.
By the end of the final season, Clementine demonstrated a brilliant leadership, proven by how she led her group to avenge against the Delta.
7 JAVI: He’s More Armed
Being in a much bigger community has its perks, and for Javi, it’s the vast amount of bullets and weaponry that comes in the New Frontier of Richmond.
It’s estimated that they’re up to a few hundred survivors strong, but most of them had likely died due to the walkers’ attack by the end of the third season. They also held military codes and were even formed by former soldiers like David Garcia.
6 CLEMENTINE: She Takes Care of a Child
The score has to go for Clementine for this one. Parenting is always hard, let alone taking care of a baby in your early teenage days in the chaotic, zombified world. After Rebecca’s death in the second season, Clementine had to take care of her son, Alvin Jr, thus testing her maturity from a very young age.
Clementine was only 11 at that time, and she took care of her ‘Goofball’ like Lee once took care of her. She even taught him how to effectively shoot.
5 JAVI: He Has a Better Combat Skill
Being older than Clementine makes Javi a better fighter in terms of combat skill. Back in the days before everything went undead, young Javi was a professional baseball player, and it explains much why he possesses good physical and athletic ability.
On the other hand, Clementine was a weak 8-9-year-old kid by the events of the first season. Her physical strength developed drastically throughout the seasons. In the second season, she collapsed after Carver slapped her, and two seasons later, she managed to fend off Lilly in a one-on-one fight, albeit wounded.
4 CLEMENTINE: She’s Been With Fans Since Season One
Since 2012, fans have been witnessing Clementine’s growth from a little treehouse girl to a true leader. Upon the release of A New Frontier, some fans didn’t even like to play as Javi at first, having emotionally attached to Clementine’s story from the start.
Whilst Javi is a great character himself, Clementine is something else, and a special one too.
3 JAVI: For Some Players, Javi Might Be More Relatable
Coming up from a complicated family, many fans might resonate with Javi’s backstory more than Clem’s. Back in the good old days, young Javi was a hot-headed baseball player with a plethora of ego surrounding his head, which eventually became a barrier of him from seeing what’s important and what’s not.
By the event of the outbreak, Javi didn’t get to be by his ill father’s side much until he passed away. Grieving from the loss, Javi always tried to make up for it, even if he always failed.
2 CONCLUSION: Clementine
Young-yet-brave. Ferocious-yet-wise. Who could be the best protagonist of Telltale’s The Walking Dead if it wasn’t Clementine Crawford? Little Clementine witnessed the world falling apart from a very young age, thus giving her knowledge and wisdom above her age.
She was saved by Lee, who later taught her to keep her hair short and basic rules of survival. Despite her age, sometimes, she’s always the center of the group, and people rely on her for split-second decisions. She’s a capable lone wolf, but also a better leader.
1 CONCLUSION: Javi
However, players looking for a family man and a much safer environment need look no further than Javi. Although it took him a lot of painful deaths and apocalyptic years to get to where he is today, Javi finally showed a good sign of leadership and proved that he’s the man to rely on.
Like Clementine, Javi is never afraid to go the extra mile to protect his loved ones, proven by the time he saved Kate and his brother David (Determinant). He’s a competent combatant, too. His weakest link, however, lies on his tendency of reliant. Is he capable of surviving on his own like Clem?
