Who is the most balanced survivor and why?
Who in your opinion is the most balanced survivor and why? In order to explain what I mean by balanced, think of every character as being on the following spectrum with each end having certain traits:
[Kind, Weak, Naive, Vulnerable, etc]<----->[Objective, Strong, Rational, Capable, etc]<----->[Cruel, Dominant, Manipulative, Desensitized, etc]
That being said, who would you say is closest to the middle or who would you place in every spot? For the sake of this discussion we will be excluding the 3 main protagonists (Lee, Clementine, and Javier) because they can end up on either extreme of the spectrum or shift dramatically in an instance. However, 400 days protagonists are fair to classify since they seem to have established traits near the end of their stories. Also, if you disagree with someone, state why and where you think their character choice would fit best.
Personally, I think the most balanced survivor is Carley. She seemed to be very rational and cautious without being unsympathetic or mean. She is shown to care for others and give people chances to prove themselves but she is also firm and expresses her concerns if needed.
To me characters like Ben, Sarah, and Duck would be on the left end of the spectrum and characters like Carver, Badger, and Randall would be on the right end. Characters like Jane, Kenny and Molly would be center right and characters like Omid, Shel, and Doug would be center left. Feel free to use this as reference or tell me why you disagree if you do. So yeah, who do you think is the most balance survivor.
Comments
Well I have no idea how fair it is to say as we've only seen Mark a few times but I'd say he seemed like a pretty balanced character.
He always seemed very rational when dealing with Larry, acting as the mediator between him and Lee for a while and even acting as an outlet for Lee to vent how he feels about Larry's actions and the clash between Kenny and Lilly.
When it came to repairing the wall in the motor inn, hunting with Lee and scouting the area of the St.Johns dairy he was always portrayed as very objective driven and more than capable.
While I'd say Mark's character was very strong, whether he was physically strong is relatively unknown.
However his strongest moment for me would be when Lee found him with his legs hacked off and instead of pleading for help from Lee, Mark's only concern was not having the group eat dinner, for...obvious reasons.
Don't you just "love" how not being a prick is sometimes considered a weak trait(alongside being weak?) here? Fuckin Social Darwinism.
Anyway, this is actually a pretty interesting idea for a thread you got here. Ranking Characters can be a time-consuming, one-n-done type of spiel, but it's always interesting to look over it and think about. And even though I made fun of it, I like how you don't just say "Walter weak, Carver strong" or "Clementine precious, Danny creep", but rather offer these generalized scales in search of balance, which I definitely appreciate for being more thought-provoking and unique than other threads.
I may just list out characters altogether since I'm not sure who I'd pick at the moment.
Max seemed like a middle right survivor. he seems rational and switches sides as long as he can life. just like eleanor.
gabe is like on the left side but he tries to be on the right side but fails.
and i just noticed that clementime from season 1 is like on the left and is now heading to the right side on your trait list.
i miss carley
Okay, I know I may have missed the point of this thread a bit and put characters in very vague places, but fuck you, there are too many characters! So here's what I got for ya's:
Clementine(Season1), Sandra, Duck, Doug, Irene, B Everett, Ben Paul, Mr. David Parker, Deputy Clyde, Eddie, Jean, Bonnie, Stephanie, Sarah(Never made official transition to Hero unfortunately), Matthew, Reggie, Arvo(initially), Patricia(by default), Gil(by default), Greg Fairbanks, Alex Fairbanks, James Fairbanks, Zachary, Jaja Garcia, Rafa Garcia, Hector Garcia, Mariana,
Old Cop, Shawn Greene, Glenn, Katjaa, Travis(averages out here), Brenda St. John, Omid, Joyce(initially), Clive(initially), Boyd, Danny the Prisoner, Shel, Leland, Luke, Alvin, Walter, Sarita, Mike, Edith, Paige, John Fairbanks, Javier Garcia, Kate, Conrad, Francine, Elinor, Dr. Paul Lingard,
Lee Everett, Clementine, Kenny(at absolute best), Carley, Mark, Lilly, Ben Paul(at times, No Time Left), Christa, Chuck(averages out here), Vernon, Joyce, Brie(averages out here), The Stranger, Vince, Officer Bennett, Russell(averages out here), Walt(averages out here), Bonnie(at times), Dee, Stephanie(at worst), Peter Joseph Randall, Rebecca(averages out here), Dr. Carlos, Mike(at times), Jane(at times), Hank, Arvo(averages out here), Natasha, Pete, Oak, Mz. Stormin Norma, Dr. Jonas, Gabriel Gabe Garcia(averages out here), Max, Lonnie, Tripp(averages out here), Ava, Clint,
ScumbagLee, EdgyClementine(averages out here unfortunately), Hershel Greene(Don't watch show), Kenny, Jolene, Lilly(at times, Long Road Ohead), Larry, Christa(at times), Molly, Clive, Dr. Logan,Vince(at times), Justin(averages out here unfortunately), Jerry, Wyatt, Becca, Roman, Tavia, Michelle(averages), Victor(averages out here), "Ralph," Nick(initially), Rebecca(initially), Dr. Carlos(at times), Troy(averages out here), Jane(initially), Buricko(at best),Vitali(averages out here), Randy, Michonne, Samantha Fairbanks, Gabby, David Garcia, Rufus, Conrad(for a while), Eli, Paul Jesus Monroe(Don't read comic), Joan,
Kenny(No Going Back, only here for distinction sake), Andy St. John(at worst), Danny St. John, Save Lots Bandits, Oberson Crawford, The Stranger(at worst), Marcus Crabtree, Nate, Roberto,Winston, William Bill Carver, Jane, Randall Monroe, Badger, "Kelvin" The Specialist,
The problem with good characters of which there were many in season 1 and a handful in season 2 is that they are too gray to fit into this sort of generalisation. You could say dominate personality traits but I also disagree with u about the 400 days protagonists bc the experience is so limited to the point of being a few scenes. It isn't fair to label someone as having a "vulnerable" personality bc they're being chased by an angry dude in a truck. Main characters that we have spent time with it is even less fair to label since they have nuance and are flexible on ur spectrum. It also comes down to personal bias. For instance Kenny is seen by some ppl as predominately kind while others found him manipulative in most instances.
It's gotta be Clint right? I know we've only seen a little of him but he seems like the most level headed and rational survivor so far. He's smart, almost always calm and he's a good guy while knowing you can't tolerate certain things. He understands that there are people you can't trust but he doesn't kill them, he sends them away.
I'd say Chuck was in the middle. Poor guy got dealt a bad hand.
Molly was definitely in the middle. with her ninja moves and parkour.
Nate was somewhere between the middle and right of the spectrum, competent but also somewhat sadistic.
Jane's character was clearly designed to be in the middle.
Max tried to be in the middle, though sometimes he'd take the situation too far.
Clint was reasonable and fair, too bad he got shot for trying to the right thing or saw his own community fall apart by no fault of his own. The guy was too good for Richmond.
Well that is the point of finding balance. I may not have worded it clearly but the traits listed are only examples and don't mean if you have one you are automatically assumed to have all.
For example, Walter seems like a pretty smart and capable guy so he should be somewhere near the middle, however his most defining trait was being too nice, and as we know that ended up being his downfall. He was not careful enough when it came to strangers. I would place him on the left if not in between left and middle.
Now take someone like Carley. She was kind and understanding but she could also be firm and vocal. She wasn't all about survival but she wasn't all about humanity either. In my opinion she was very balanced. She was nice but not weak, strong but not controlling, confident but not arrogant. Does this make sense? I know most characters jump all over the place which is why I'm interested in who you all think the most balanced person is.
I would actually put Molly and Jane to the right. Not at the very end, but on the right for sure. Think about it, although they are very strong characters, they lack empathy which is not a good thing if you are trying to find a good balance. Especially Jane, she left her sister, so she would leave anyone given the chance. She did start to change a bit when she met Clem but she didn't last much after that.
I agree with most everyone else. Especially Chuck. He was a pretty good and balanced guy.
Maybe slighly skewed to the right since they did have their moments, but they weren't lacking in empathy. Molly can stop herself from killing Lee just because Clementine begged her to and Jane did everything she could to save her sister and only gave up when she realized she couldn't force her to. In fact if I recall correctly Jane will say shes grateful Clementine made her try to save Sarah if Clem chose to do so. Most of Jane and Molly's difficulty trusting others stemed from their lone wolf mentality, but that doesn't mean they doesn't they didn't care about anyone in the group, why would they have stuck around for as long as they did if that were the case?
Uh, I don't like to sound presumptuous or claim higher knowledge, but you must be recalling your dreams, man.
Tripp is the most balanced. He was strong enough to be the leader of Prescott and nice enough to let Clem and Javi in during a herd. That didn't mean he was too nice though, since he stood his ground against Badger and his guys instead of just turning in Javi to them. He was also pretty rational, as he knew Badger needed to die but also tries to stop Javi from going overkill on him. He even reacts better than expected when he finds out you killed Conrad. He could have killed you, you know? Overall he seems to have found a good balance. It sucks he died in my playthrough though
I agree. Mark was a very balanced survivor. I assume he was physically capable since he was in the military. He can be seen struggling to move furniture in the video at the end of starved for help but I attribute that to them being without food for so long. I wish he could have survived at least until episode 3.
I reckon Molly was pretty balanced. She was level headed, cool and calculating; she would kill you if she had to (if you fail the QTE she is about to kill or injure Lee before Clementine shows up) but also understood the importance of teamwork, and could be friendly too once she'd warmed up to you. She was also able to survive well on her own, always a good trait.
If we have Sarah, Sarita (I love her character, but she's definitely on the naive/kind end) and Katjaa are one end of the spectrum, and Carver and Joan are the other end, I think characters like Molly, Mark and Luke (episodes 1-3 moreso) are that sweet spot inbetween.
Isn't Lee the most balanced? He certainly shows a lot of different types of personality based on the player's choice
Hmm...I'd say Mark is the most balanced among them, being something of an able-bodied mediator even when compared to Lee and all. Sarah's on the far right, Katjaa, Luke, and Sarita are closer to the middle, Carver's on the far right, and I guess you can say Joan is closer to the middle from his side of things for balancing sake.
Mmm....he's definitely one of the first to come to mind, but I'd personally say he most likely shifts between leaning towards the right and leans more toward the left as the story progresses.
Technically Lee can be, but we are excluding protagonist because they can fall anywhere since they are based on the actions of the characters. To me though, I would say Javi is the most balanced of the protagonist. He just strikes me as a well rounded character regardless.
You see my problem is that i don't know enough about Javier to judge whether or not he is an all rounded character but fair enough on your opinion.
[Kind, Weak, Naive, Vulnerable, etc]<----->[Objective, Strong, Rational, Capable, etc]<----->[Cruel, Dominant, Manipulative, Desensitized, etc]
I think that's his spectrum.
I see. What is your rationale?
The only cruel thing my Javi has done is smashing Badger's skull in. Other than that he isn't a dominant, cruel or manipulative person. He certainly is physically and mentally strong though, but also a very kind and honest person, not naive though.
I know we haven't seen much of her but I think Shel is one of the most balanced survivors. I feel her story actually touched on finding balance in a changing world. She knows things are different and that everyone has to do questionable things just to stay alive, but she is trying not to let that change who she is. She seems like a very observant and rational character and I am sure she is pretty capable too if she was able to keep herself and her sister alive for so long. If she appears in season 2 you can hear her sympathize with Sarah instead of criticizing her like everyone else. To me that show's more strength than just adopting a survival of the fittest mentality. If you can go through all that hell and still be able to understand others, that makes you very strong. I always thought the real weaklings are those who let themselves go down along with the world. However, I am sure she isn't a pushover either. I'm sure she will go to any lengths to defend herself or her sister, but violence isn't her first option. That's why I think she is the most balanced.
Agreed.
I disagree with Kenny in No Going Back. I firmly believe his intentions were to protect those he cared about. Kenny is the farthest thing from manipulative. He was always honest, whether the situation called for it or not, he was. He reacted out of emotion at the end only because of how much he cared about AJ.
Doesn't change the fact that he was overemotional with anger, dismissive of others' opinions, and is very aggressive towards Jane and Arvo in particular--Rational/Objective and/or Kind/Weak he was not.
Jane and Arvo deserved it IMO.
Eh, true-ish, but that's besides the point.
The only reason I wouldn't call Kenny a balanced survivor is because he is a very dynamic person. At one moment he can be calm and rational, but a few minutes later he can be angry and impulsive and then a few more minutes after that he can be sad and sulky. He jumps around to much on the spectrum to be considered balance.
In No Going Back he really did become Cruel in the way he treated Arvo. Up until that point Arvo hadn't done anything wrong. It was his group that became violent. He seemed like he didn't want to be a part of that. He even expressed concern when he noticed they had a baby and was even trying to get his people to back off because of AJ. He also became very aggressive and to be honest, I felt he was using any excuse to beat on the kid. Although to his credit he did seem to become more settled after the events of season 2. It's a shame he died so soon.
I wanted to add my input but I can't think of anyone who has a god balance that hasn't been mentioned. I guess most people turned crazy
To be fair I think it's pretty rare to be balanced given the way things are. Everyone thinks it's survival of the fittest but in this day and age I would say it's more survival of the smartest. The smart thing would be to keep people from dying and thus walkers would eventually decrease in number, but killing seems to be everyone's go to answer the first time around
After finishing ANF, has anyone's perspective changed?
Good question. I might have to reevaluate two or three things sometime.