A Character Analysis: Carver And The Stranger
I know many have compared two certain characters along one another but these two stick out for me since they're both the 2 main antagonists of the game. I wanted to talk a little about each. First is
The Stranger:
The Stranger Through Out His Time Remained Enigmatic And Nameless We Only Know That The Group Stole From His Station Wagon. He In The Meantime Took His Son Out Hunting But Lost Him. His Wife Seeing That Her Son And Food Was Gone Broke Down And Left Him Out Of Spite. This Caused A Mental Break Down Of His Own And The Next Day Seeing Them In The Road Made Him Change From Depressed To Flat Out Delusional. He Not Long After Found Clementine On His Radio Who He Manipulated And Coaxed Into Being His Own. She, Distraught Over Her Own Parents Disappearing Was Looking For Any Emotional Attachment And Seeing As She Was Afraid After All The Things She And Lee Went Through Wanted A Way Out, Thinking She Could Escape The Apocalypse. The Stranger Saw Something Far Beyond Getting Revenge On Lee Or Kenny In Her, But An Actual Substitute For His Own Daughter. He Shows That He Cares By Warning The Group That He Wanted To Kill About The Walkers In The Street In Crawford.
When Lee Encounters The Stranger Face To Face Lee Is Surprised That He Hadn't Found At All What He Was Expecting. Unlike Any Other Villain He Had Encountered The Stranger Was An Ordinary Man Who Was Just Trying To Do What Was Right Or What He Believed In His Mental State Was Right. His Level Of Delusion Was Far Beyond Normal And He Would Have Said Anything To Make Lee Feel Like The Inferior Parent.
Carver:
Carver Had Already Had His Entire Camp Set Up For About 2 Years. He Could Have Been The Ultimate Survivalist But He Let Rebecca And AJ Distract Him And He Got Emotionally Involved. Carver Is A Man Of Principle And Arrogance And Believes All Are Beneath Him. It Is Hinted He Had A Hard Childhood But His Darwinism And God Complex Hadn't Been Shown Since The Apocalypse. When You Corner A Wild Animal It's Vicious Side Comes Out. He Feels Especially Dominant And Assertive Once Back At Howe's (His Kingdom). When Carver Meets Clementine He's Out Of His True Element He Uses Charisma And Charm To Persuade Her. Even Without The Player's Control Clementine Is Distrustful Of Him And She Rubs Him The Wrong Way. This Is Likely Due To The Stranger Manipulating Her On That Occasion.
He believes he is a king and every king must have his legacy. He called Clementine to his office to be sure if she was the one meant for the job. Carver became dangerously uncomfortable with the survival of the fittest mentality. He knew the world would never be the way it was ever again so in his mind it was better to make preparations for something brand new than bide time and energy waiting to rebuild the old.
In the end these two are very interesting characters. They both thought they were superior and both attempted to manipulate Clementine. However both men had weaknesses. The Stranger was broken and unstable and had a weakness for Clementine where as Carver allowed his weakness for Rebecca and his unborn child to get the better of him. The Stranger had nothing to lose where as Carver had everything to lose. The Stranger was a mess and I'm pretty sure wanted to die where as Carver turned any depression or stress into ego and superiority. Carver had his shit together and would be able to mentally overpower The Stranger into making him do what he wanted like a puppet on a string.
Comments
Really good analysis of the characters here, you've got the stranger spot on. I haven't started S2 yet so I don't know about Carver yet, but it was a good read! Just about to start S2 so I am looking forward to seeing what this Carver is all about now! :]
If you haven't played Season 2 yet then WATCH OUT, these forums are filled with spoilers.
Yeah, I've walked into a couple of things the last few days haha! Trying to avoid the spoilers! :]
Why Are You Typing Like This?
Key board messed up. What I get for typing on an Android phone
Forgot To Mention That! ;]