Why I Dislike How Telltale Handled Clem's Character
Kennysucks
Banned
So in season one we had Clem who was just a scared little girl and she was fairly realistic and that was all fine but in season two I just couldn't believe anything she did anymore. By that I mean everything she does is just so unrealistic and it just bothers me. For example take a look at the walking dead TV show, as of season four, Carl has been living in the apocalypse longer then Clem and he is at this point fifteen years old and he was easily tackled and almost raped by a grown man. In the video game, Clem has been through less of the apocalypse than Carl and is only an eleven year old girl who clearly has not gone through puberty yet, however she is able to win in a fight against a grown man, fight off an angry dog, sew up her own arm, etc. It's just stupid and unbelievable. Am I saying they could NEVER make Clem into a badass? No of coarse not however its just stupid when you make her a badass at the age of eleven 
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Actually, I think Carl is only supposed to be about 12 on the show. It has been 2, maybe three years since everything started, but I get the rest of your points. Still, I dont think Clem is a "badass" as much as a girl who is learning to survive however she can. If some grown man was attacking you, you'd fight like hell to get away. She also had the walkers helping her. The dog, all she did was kick him. Anyone can do that. Sewing up her arm, Im a big baby so I dont know if I could do that, but she thought she was going to die if she didn't. She is tough and has a strong survival instinct so she does what she needs to do. I did think that we would see more of the peril of being a little girl in this dangerous world than we did so I guess I agree with you there.
2 years in the apocalypse and people complain that it's just not realistic. A lot has changed since she met Lee.
If you're talking about the game, I don't see the point in comparing Clementine to TV/comics' character.
In season one Carl is 12, however in Season five he is 14 however the actor for Carl has recently turned 15. And the walkers only helped Clem kill him, she was able to fight him off herself though which is super unrealistic. I guarentee the dog has much more strength than Clem, no way she could fight it off with one kick and a few punches. Her sewing up her arm is pretty bullshit too, not impossible but still unbelievable.
Well they're all the exact same scenario, the comic even shares the exact same universe as the game so there's no problem with comparing them
Yeah but compared to other characters in the whole walking dead series its stupid. Clem had potential but they just ruined it with trying to make her a cliche badass when shes only eleven
I agree. Her being a bad ass is fine, it wouldn't bother me. But They do take it to excess this season considering she is barely 11, and I place this squarely on the shoulders of her being the playable character. The most irritating thing about her being a bad ass is we never saw this transition in the slightest. We see her at the start of season two as young, innocent, and helpless as the end of season 1. Then they give us a half assed "meaningful" death and poof, 16 months later she is as cold and "bad ass" as she is for the rest of season two, and without even rudimentary survival skills as building a fucking fire!
Exactly, I understand that the part of why she's so tough and shit is because she is the main character and all but still you can make her a badass but she doesn't need to be fucking sewing up her own arm and fighting off grown men.
Did you see how little he was? The actor was only ten when he was cast, so I think Carl was the same age. I know Chandler Riggs is 15, he's just playing younger to fit the time frame.
I still have to disagree about the other things. When you're fighting for your life, you find strength you never knew you had.
But doesn't it lead to a discussion about which one of them presents more realistic behavior, and consequently who is better written?
I wouldn't say fighting off Winston was unbelievable though I agree with some of your other points... She chewed right into the fucker's hand and repeatedly kicked him, grabbing everything she could in order to not be dragged away.
It's not even so much that each of these events happen. It's that all of them happen. Coupled with mountains more examples of her being "bad ass" (or perhaps better termed "adult like" or something. Bad ass has connotations I'm not sure directly apply to Clementine).
[Sweats nervously because I prefer S2 Clem]
No. It just shows that characters can be written in this universe without making them unnaturally "bad ass."
Godammit Stranger and Michelle!! You're the reason Clem's like this!!
Still, I wouldn't call Clem "a badass". Same goes with Carl (from TV show).
Clementine character on season two is unrealistic. But she has a long way as Carl.
You're right. I stated something similar further up the thread. "Bad ass" isn't the best applicable term, but it serves to get the point across I believe.
Let's just say they are more mature than typical kids their age.
When I was eleven I was the same size as Carl, not to mention Chandler isn't the tallest guy his age either. also it is mentioned that pre-apocalypse Carl was a 12 year old middle school student.
I've had the same strength you never knew you had thing happen to me too but there's no way a little girl would have enough strength from that to fight off a thirty year old man. It's just impossible
Even though the apocalypse would make kids more "mature" Clem is faaaar more "mature" in less time than Carl and she is also a much younger age. All I'm trying to say is that Telltale didn't have to make Clementine so tough and cliche to make her a good character. AMC didn't make Carl super cliche and unrealistic, however he is still a good well done character.
Where was that mentioned?
I don't know exactly as its been like four years since I watched season one however there is a flashback to where Lori and Shane go to Carls school before the apocalypse and talk to him. It is also on the wiki and most people say the wiki is full of shit but you know that hardcore fan nuts will go crazy if something on the wiki is inaccurate.
Well thats life, you can not like everything that happened
That's far underselling the point.
Exactly if I may refer to one of Pete's insightful quotes about life "I feel like ten pounds of shit in a five pound sack" it's something like that.
Well, I guess there's no way to know for sure, unless we hear it from the horse's mouth. The wikia could be accurate but maybe it's not. I still place him at 13 at the very most because thats about how he looks, but I guess he could be older.
I don't see the cliché.
What a terrible argument. It's pretty much a rehashed "if you don't like it, get out."
How so? Clem (and Carl) can deal with dangerous tasks, face difficult situation, use diplomacy at the level of an adult, properly shoot the gun or kill if needed. Most of other children their age wouldn't be able to do even half of those things (e.g. Sarah) because not all have been prepared for this.
Clem isn't made of steel though.
as of season five he looks at least fourteen
Because the way it sounds using that context it seems more like they are academic winners in elementary school or helping sell lemonade for a charity fund raiser. Clem can do all of the things you mentioned with absolute perfection and no hesitation. Out think and preform all of the adults around her. It has far surpassed good preparation.
Arnie Clementine strikes again.
Yes and no. He didn't stich her arm up with cold "fuck it", she was crying in pain. Same with Sam, she was sad seeing him suffer. She wasn't sure what to say when they met Matthew, had trouble killing Nick and walker who bit him (determinant). The list goes on, I'm to lazy to find more examples. But the point is, she experiences most of things like a normal 11-years-old.
She gets shot through the chest with a rifle at close range and simply walks it off. And this is possibly right after falling into a frozen lake that killed a full grown man. Plus possible beatings from Carver and Troy and a dog cutting her arm open so wide it needed stitching. Only the dog bite even slows her down, and it never bothers her again after crudely sewing it up with fishing line. I think even John McClane would be calling bullshit at this point. At very least, he spent the rest of Die Hard limping after picking glass out of his feet.
I like what Clementine has become. I respect the way you see it, but I look at it differently. What Telltale captured in Season 2 of the game was capturing the apocalypse from the standpoint of a young kid growing up in hell on Earth. This world causes children to grow up faster than they should, and you do see it in Carl Grimes as well. Clementine is no longer that scared, helpless little girl from Season 1, she has become more mature, responsible, and independent. She no longer even needs the protection of people like Lee, Kenny, Jane, etc to keep her safe, she can survive on her own if need be. She has adapted to this world and does what it takes to survive. You can't have her be that same helpless little girl or else she would become exactly like Sarah, and I don't think people want that.
Please. She stabbed her arm, hit the table, stabbed her arm a few more times then... well then nothing. It's mentioned what? One time after that? That's pretty "fuck it," if you ask me. She accomplished this goal completely alone, that's fine, whatever. But then it's forgotten nearly immediately. That's not within the bounds of an 11 year old girl, even with "preparation" or "more mature than typical kids her age."
Sam was one of the few times I didn't mind her "maturity" level. She realized the dog was going to die and did what she thought was right (or...did what she wanted?). She was like an actual 11 year old girl trying to deal with a situation she didn't like. Good scene.
She said this to Luke to force a quirky bonding moment between the two. After she actually starts talking she is more "diplomatic", or at least knows what to say, than her mid 20's companion.
I don't remember this scene, must not have gotten it.
She is experiencing things like an unnatural 11 year old playable character with plot armor a mile thick.
As for the thing with Matthew and Luke, she's always been pretty diplomatic when she needs to be. She pulls Ben away from the confrontation with Lily when no one else was even paying attention to him. And if you stay silent with Lee upon meeting Christa and Omid, she's the one who introduces herself and Lee.