To those who love Clementine...
Now, first of all, to make myself clear and to not be stoned by Clementine's adoring fan base, I'd like to remind everyone, I don't dislike Clementine. Not at all. But, while I do believe she certainty has the potential and the backstory to become a great character in Season 3, I've always been quite baffled as to why she's, arguably (nah, she probably is) the most popular character in the entire series at the moment and for many players, she seems to make the games worthwhile. I simply don't really get it, to be honest, considering she is, until Season 3's release, still a small child and doesn't have all to many layers in her personality, making her, for me, a fairly uninteresting character and definitely not one of my favourite aspects in the series. Again, not saying I dislike her- She is likable, but I just don't think she's compelling enough to really be the best thing about The Walking Dead, nor as seen in Season 2, the best candidate to be the main protagonist and hold the games, as she is, just a child, despite everything...
The only conclusion I ever reach to this question, as to why soo many people seem to love the character, some even bordering on the line of obsessive, is just because she's a cute kid, though that could very well be wrong and maybe there are other factures to why she's loved. I don't know, so I'm curious to find out.
So, yeah, to the major Clementine fans, why is it that you have such fondness for the character and why do you believe she's the best individual seen thus far in the games? Oh, and if Telltale were to do the unspeakable, and have her die in a future instalment, how would you feel?
Thanks for reading.
Comments
For me, it's all about attachment. Do I think she's the best character in The Walking Dead period? No. But she's easily in my top 10.
Knowing Clementine for 4 years now, seeing her die in Season 3 would have a huge impact on me for sure. It'd be the unthinkable. It's been a long journey since the Lee Everett days of Macon/Savannah. That time adds up from my point of view.
I can't really picture her dying at all. I can see me sitting there, controller in hands, mouth wide open as the credits rolled. I'd be in pure shock.
"Holy shit, they did it. They actually fucking DID IT."
Well I think a lot of the attachment had to do with playing her caregiver in season 1. People see an adorable and innocent little kid and want to protect her from the world, yeah. But I think episode 3 of the season is truly where players started to feel differently about Clementine. She's not just a little girl to protect, as Chuck says. She's alive, and she needs to learn how to protect herself to stay that way. Suddenly we aren't just a guardian, we're also a teacher, raising her to become independent and strong in the face of horror, but still kind. Not only that, but she had also proven herself to be strong and smart in her own right, aiding Lee in numerous tight situations on her own. So she's a character that we've invested our effort and emotion in, and we want to see her live and become the person we would want her to be in light of Lee's sacrifice.
Season 2 dampened my opinion of Clementine a bit, only because her dialogue was a little too snarky for me and I feel like her personality was neglected for Kenny's development. Not to mention they treated her too much as an adult. Still, though, she represents our investment and view of what the next generation holds in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. And I can say that even in Season 2 I still carried over a strong materialistic instinct and was deeply effected by anything hurting her, like Carver slapping her, Troy hitting her with his gun, or Arvo shooting her in the shoulder (even though 2/3 if those events were technically my fault).
I've always viewed Clementine's genius as less of her being a complex layered character, and more of her being an extremely well structured vehicle to portray something that many games have struggled trying to give insight into... weakness (in the case of season 1) and pain (in the case of season 2).
As well as her portraying those emotions quite convincingly, she's also a character who we've seen is willing to buck certain conventions set in games revolving around post-apocalyptic survival narratives.
I know a lot of people hate that Clementine is given options that are often associated with less-than-reputable people. But one of the reasons I enjoyed elements of episodes such as All That Remains and Amid the Ruins (even if it was immensely sloppy in terms of execution) is that Clementine is presented with certain moral choices in which the outcome isn't made ever-present.
Maybe it took the rushed and skewed season 2 to present Clementine with a certain stance of ethics that are hopefully more present in season 3. And I do hope she's given a much stronger ladder to climb.
Clementine was wonderfully written in season 1 and season 2 gave us the opportunity to what I hope is mould her into the "who will you become" character we were given to choose by the end of season 2. I remember reading that the writers were worried that people wouldn't care about her but i'm glad to say that their fears did not come true
Just to give a quick answer, I'm pretty sure it was the novelty of her being such a not only tolerable, but lovable child character in a video game being such an uncommon thing at the time, plus the fact that she is a strong female character and that both she and Lee are positively portrayed black protagonists. It's also why I think characters like Duck, Luke, Kenny(S2), and Arvo are sometimes given such a hard time.
She is my child.
First of all, I do love Clementine. Considering Lee's relationship to Clementine, it would make sense that a lot of people would love her. Since we controlled Lee, we the players were her guardian. That's already a great breeding ground for emotional attachment. In Season 1, I thought she was a pretty realistic and likeable portrayal of a child in the apocalypse. She displayed a lot of maturity for her age, but it was obvious that she was still mentally a child. Her morals and idealisms were just so child-like and endearing, although she was shown to be very intelligent too. And yeah, I will admit she was also pretty darn cute. The shifts that occured with Clementine as a result of the Duck situation were just really well handled in my opinion.
In Season 2, I will admit that if you looked, you could find issues with her character. But because of the attachment from season one and the pretty unique premises of playing as a little girl during the apocalypse, a lot of people enjoyed her. She didn't get as much development as she should have, but the process of molding her through difficult moral choices was just amazing to me. And back to attachment, I found myself cringing and becoming emotionally upset every time any variation of pain came her way.
I also do see her as having a lot of potential for season three. She may not be a ground-breaking and complex character, but she is likeable and portrayed in a way that leaves many both attached and intrigued about her future.
To me, Clementine is a character with so much potential and capability to become... I guess the best way to put it, an Alpha Female (I know sounds weird). A leader, a true suvivor, humanity's best, that's the person I see Clementine could be. Kind of like Shepard from Mass Effect or the Lone Wanderer from Fallout. I feel proud that I'm grooming her to be that way from the beginning of S1 and we'll into S2. On top of that, the girl is as sweet as can be (if chosen in S2). I belive Clementine is a child character done right, especially in a zombie video game.
Clementine is a sweetheart....in season one she is well developed...season two..not so much...but that is actually to the good as we are the ones playing her. You can be as snarky and mean as you want or retain her sweet nature. Anything she did that seemed off is mostly due to videogame tropes and of course to give you things to do.
Clementine better survive season three. But who knows how things will turn out. All I know is that when we first met her...she was not a kid you wanted to murder like Anakin Skywalker.
That's a bit much, don't ya think?
Clementine is our daughter and we are proud of her. We've watched her grow up from an innocent cinnamon bun roll into a beautifully awesome young woman and...she's...s-she...
Don't question the love one has for their fictional child! T_T
No...that kid ruined episode 1.
Eh...it's been a while since I saw the Phantom Menace, but his misdirected acting was not the most of that movies problems.
Well...you got me there.
She's the child I grew extremely attached to in season 1 and did everything I could to keep safe. Almost all of my decisions based themselves around "will this benefit/harm Clementine" because goddamn it, I'm her caretaker now and I'll make sure she survives.
In season 2, I got to put myself in her shoes. The same kid I was previously helping survive can now stand on her own and I can help shape the person she's going to grow up to be.
I guess following her for so long made it impossible for me to stay indifferent and experiencing her life so closely gave her an importance that puts her one step ahead of everyone else.
She's the fandom's daughter!
To be honest Clem is why we play the game.
She isn't like Carl who for 2 seasons was a whiny little nuisance nor Sophia who was pointless.
Not only do you protect and raise her but she helps you too, when you first meet her she saves your life by giving you a weapon.
In Season 2 she turns more badass depending on your actions.
I see this not through the eyes of a gamer, but through the eyes of Lee, watching over his girl.
In Season 2 even though we played as Clem, I never felt like I was Clem, I still played as Lee trying to protect my little girl.
To be honest I don't like a lot of the characters in the game, if it wasn't for Lee, Clem and the story I wouldn't be playing it.
While I still love the characters I don't get attached to them.
I loved seeing Kenny again, cried when Omid died, yet I felt nothing for Christa cause I didn't like her.
Basically we are Lee and she is our girl.
I feel like in S3 I'm gonna be VERY over protective I don't trust the male companion Clem has.
Clem is my no 2 of my twd fvr characters after lee
I actuatly see her as the only thing left from lee i like her as father cuz that was my job in the walking dead s1 as lee
And i don't like her cuz she cute or something i see her as the character that sufferd more than any character after lee of course and she lost her parents and lee and every one here know how painfull was lee death just for the onewho played as him how about clem he was her only world only hope and in the end of every thing she was the cuz of his death can you know how painfull its that you are the reason of your most close person in your life death its so fucking painfull she lost the last importent thing to her the Childhood innocence in season 2 and after that she hadto face the same nightmare that lee faced in season 1 the group problems and she is just a kid that why i like clem cuz she face stuff some one in her old is not supposet to do
Yeah she is cute she is a kid she is main walking dead character but before all that she is clementine and she is the only thin left to me from lee and what is importent to le its importent to me
Actualy maybe there is a mistake that telltale my fall in it right now its using clem a lot if clem keep showing up in every walking dead game the people will get tired from her and start hating her and i can guess you already start cuz i have seen that before about an other character leon s kenndy from resident evil he is my fvr character in all the games and he was the most loveable charcter in resident evil from the fan becouse of re4 but now a lot of people start hating him why becouse he is the most used character in resident evil and i afraid that what is going to happin to clem
Exactly how I feel... Even though in Season 3 she's only a couple of years younger then me...
Yes...in some older threads we hashed out that TTG would be smart to give her character a rest for a season and concentrate on making another couple of awesome characters. In s1 you had Clementine and Lee...very memorable characters...s2...there were some interesting people...but none that matched those two...and that is not good as they killed Lee off. So yeah I can see them resting Clementine for a season...but they do need to work on a new lovable character.
Technically, going by the year the apocalypse started, Clementine is in fact a little older than me. Also, knowing the majority of people's ages on here, she's quite older than most users.
Nonetheless she is my child.
That damn right bro i like clem a lot as character but they had to make an other characters for game like the tv show like michonne and rick .abraham. that what makes the show so cool cuz he has a lot of loveable characters and i never read the comics but i heard that the characters of twd comics more than the show and that what the game should put as goal to the upcoming seasons the characters telltale they are importent
Yeah same, but I was just going by her age now. (13-14)
I think Clementine is automatically sympathetic/likable because (1.) she is a child, and therefore an innocent (as other members have already put forward), but I believe the primary reason is (2.) she is the playable character. We understand her motivations and relate to her struggles because we make her decisions/choose her dialogue. The same actions or comments taken out of context or made by another character might not always be received in the same positive light. It's personal bias because she is a reflection of our character.
Well, considering the whole "Edgy!Clem" phenomenon, that's probably not a good thing.
I think a majority of people are "perception over reflection". That tends to get in the way of giving anyone else a free pass, even if you yourself might make the same choice.
Well I mean, I loved Clem plenty if not more when she wasn't a playable character. Also being a child doesn't inherently make them likable. Plenty of people hated Duck, Becca, and Sarah, and children in other video games are also not quite as loved (with the exception of maybe Ellie in The Last of Us).
I think with Clementine, as with Ellie, it is their unique view of the world. They're quiet, and they don't always voice their fears. They're stong because they feel they have to be for their guardians. They can be very useful and intuitive so as to avoid "escort mission" status, but are still children that can make mistakes. So I think it might have more to do with people relating that sense of innocence with them, but also seeing the potential they have to survive and even thrive under our guidance. We don't necessarily have to play them to feel that effect, though it can help.
To me, Clementine is unique. A zombie apocalypse survivor who is a helpful child, a POC, and female, and getting to know her through playing as another character (even if it did feel like she was stripped of some of that character in S2) are altogether a combination of traits we haven't seen before in this setting and are a good break from the mold of ZA protags. Also, she has a cool design.
I don't vibe with the whole "she's my daughter" thing, especially since we would be peers chronologically.
Yea I wish maul had ran him down with his speeder bike.
I love lil Clem because of how much she rocks. In S1 we as lee get to rescue, get to know, and look after her. I for one was very intrigued by Clem's personality, as she was very different from everyone. Pure is the only word that comes to mind. Not burdened by anything, whether it be fear, or other wise. She just wanted to do the right thing in all moments. E.g taking Ben away from the comotion so he wouldn't be the focus of it, in S1E2. For me, Clem was the only focus. How can I help her grow? How can I keep her safe?
So yeah, that pretty much made her the best character in Tt's TWD, imo. S2 was a gift. Being able to play as Clem was a real treat. Seeing her growth as a child of a zombie apocalypse, was amazing. She wasn't pure anymore. Seasoned, is maybe the word. Seeing her with Christa, by the fire, she looked so sad. Like she was sick and tired of this kind of life. And who could blame her. All the death, and fear. The hunger, and sorrow. I can't imagine the type of emotional trauma she had suffered. But, somehow she continues to push on. Still wanting to do the right thing. As she tries to get Christa to focus on the present.
Well, she's someone I would LOVE to look up to if I was in the zombie apocalypse. She just doesn't give a fuck and I like that.
I think it is because to me Clementine is like a little sister figure. Despite her age she is more mature then teens her age and has been through a lot over the years during the Apocalypse and she knows how to handle certain situations. I don't think we will be seeing Clementine die or at least anytime soon because TellTale knows how much fans love her and that it would effect them in a big way.
Clementine is basically a daughter figure, basically what @Lilacsbloom said. I was a bit bent out of shape when I thought Clementine wasn't going to PC for S3. If Clementine dies in S3, then some tires are getting slashed
.