Norma & Randall: Best Telltale Walking Dead villains so far.
So I finally finished The Walking Dead Michonne and I loved it! For me Norma and Randall are the highlight of this story. They're so well written. And I can say without a doubt that they're the best villains so far from Telltale's Walking Dead.
Randall was just this really crazy and aggressive guy that I couldn't help love. Norma was like super intelligent, I could tell she was smart from our first real chat in Monroe. When she told me about Sam being a natural born liar and told me "She's good" with that smile I was like "Shit, this chick's smart". Another thing I loved about these two were that they weren't really bad people. More Norma than Randall because I've gotta admit he was pretty bad but he wasn't pure evil. One more thing about Norma, Even after everything we did to each other, she was willing to be smart, swallow her pride, let it go and go our seperate ways. Unfortunately that changed when Randall got himself killed.
Here's some of my favourite Randall and Norma quotes, I'm sure you can guess which is which:
"Everyone deserves a second chance, I believe that, but never a third"
"What kind of mother brings a child into this mess of a world? Ain't no blue skies for them anymore"
"Guess that means the dance is over"
"You and I... we've each taken from the other. All I want now is my brother back."
Comments
I don't think Norma counts as a villain.
If she was a villain, she wouldn't have been giving everyone chances to give her brother back.
But I agree about Randall.
Antagonist then.
Mayyyybeee
I still think the st John's were the best, even though they were clearly evil they were well written and acted.
Even though they were in one episode I got more of a feel for all their personalities and motives than most others.
Randall I liked second due to him being pretty funny at times, while again being evil. I'd say the bandits were a similar level and Nate
Norma and Carver were okay but they always acted so lordy and stupid/violent for supposably intelligent people. They were also underdeveloped, we hear a lot about them, but we don't see them do much or interact with them
Arvo and Stranger were the worst, acting hard done by and trying to garner sympathy when your a horrible person doesn't work for me. I like villains to be human but too much of justification just irritates me
I didn't really care for Randall he just seemed like a rehash of Carver in a way. Norma was cool though still don't think she was deserving of the fate she got
Randall and Carver are still different in some ways.
Randall appeared to be willing to stop taunting Zachary if he were able to get Michonne, Sam and Greg to confess about the guns' location. Pretty simple, right? Carver believed that the cabin group and the other people would deserve to be let in if they proved themselves as worthy by improving the community.
Carver held the idea that one should get rid of somebody else, if it meant that the other people in the community, who pulled their weight, would live better. Randall didn't pronounce a word about survival of the fittest.
They do share some similarities, such as being able to kill others if the situation required it, and having a woman of color as their personal helper—Gabby and Tavia. And they use assault rifles, and chase the protagonist group for the entirety of episode two. And they're also in a position of power within a community. And yeah, they die in episode three.
About Norma, I can't help but agree.
Also they enjoy encouraging violence among others Carver with Sarah and Carlos and Randall goading Zachary into a violent interrogation. The raspy voice, and all he just didn't seem all that interesting as a character he was a little toony and ridiculously evil, Carver was at least believable in the sense that he had an understandable objective and drive to get it (his child and Rebecca). Randall just seems to be the monster under the bed cut out. Maybe not a rehash but not entirely different
I thought Randall was pretty one dimensional, but I did like Norma fine. But I always thought the Stranger from Season One was the best villain. Mainly because he's someone you hate, but at the same time, also someone you can't help but feel sorry for. I dunno. Maybe I'm just a sucker for tragic villains.
I agree that Randall was an entertaining character and I certainty enjoyed him, but there really wasn't much to him besides being an evil, child killing piece of shit. I prefer villains, who have a bit more substance and motivation behind them, aside from just being evil for the sake of being evil. Same with Carver really, who was just the typical dictatorial, ruthless leader who'd do anything to ensure his community's survival. They're just the same old type of villains seen in hundreds of other fiction. Of all those characters though, I personally think the St. Johns were the best. I got a real creepy vibe from them and they could make you feel pretty uncomfortable, especially Danny.
Norma, on the other hand, was something new. She wasn't portrayed as a cut-out villain, but an actual person. Sure she was ruthless to some extents, as shown with her treatment with Greg, but she did have actual attachments and feelings, shown with how she cared for her brother, instead of being another emotionless psychopath. Unfortunately we didn't see enough of her, in order to have a lasting effect, but I'd like to see another antagonist like this, one who's portrayed as a living human being, one with good and bad qualities.
i still like the Stranger from S1 the best.
I enjoyed Randall as a character, but I can't lie in that he doesn't have that much substance as a villain. I do think there's more to him than "evil for the sake of being evil" (I made a post about this in some other thread before), but Randall's the kind of character that works better as a secondary antagonist like he was. He's not the type of character that would be able to carry the series, if you ask me. On the other hand though, Norma was a great antagonist, and the type that we really need more of. It's easy to make the cookie-cutter bad guy, and they're usually pretty effective, but Norma was definitely a breath of fresh air. It's just a shame that she didn't get much time to shine, partly due to this being a mini-series. I mean, imagine how awesome Norma could have been if this was a full-fledged season and not just three 1-hour episodes. Which leaves me hoping they do a character like her in S3, an antagonist that leans heavily into the grey area.
However, with all that said, I'd still say my favorite antagonists were the St Johns. I felt they did a good job actually humanizing them and making them seem like real people, or at the very least, like they were normal people at one point before they turned into what they are now. Also, out of all the mediums, I think they're the best portrayal of cannibals; better than the Hunters in the comic, better than Terminus in the show. I thought they were inherently more human and relatable than them.
The Stranger was another notable villain if you ask me, because he's another character where considering him to be a 'villain' is debatable. Although I will admit that the Stranger's effectiveness is more or less dependent on the choices you made in the season. If you stole from the car and made a few ruthless choices throughout, his justifications for coming after you actually have some validity to them. But if you didn't steal, and mostly played as a good guy, the Stranger's justifications for coming after you are a lot less founded, and seem kind of dumb in all honesty. But the tragedy aspect of his character was definitely handled well. Regardless of your choices, this is just a broken man whose life you and your group indirectly helped ruin. A man you never even met, a man you had no intent on harming, who had his life irrevocably changed due to your actions.
My dream villain/antagonist would be a mash up of Norma, the Stranger, and the St Johns. The tragedy of the Stranger, the relatively reasonable, well-rounded nature of Norma, and the creepiness factor of the St Johns, all rolled into one big bad. But honestly, even if that doesn't happen, I'm fine with whatever they go with. I've personally liked all the antagonists to have come out of the game so far (St Johns, Bandits, Stranger, Carver, Norma + Randall), and at least three of those I'd consider to be some of the best in the entire TWD franchise.
They don't beat Negan, though. But hey, nothing does.