Kenny is the tritagonist of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead video game series, serving as the tritagonist of the first season, the deuteragonist of the second season, and a determinate returning character in the third season, A New Frontier.
A family man who Lee meets and befriends on the start of the outbreak, the death of his wife and child slowly turned Kenny into an unstable and depressed man, which shows more when he retuned to season 2, with his emotional tie to protecting Clementine and A.J.
He is voiced by Gavin Hammon.
What Makes Him a Base Breaking Character?[]
What Do People Like About Him?[]
- His friendship with Lee is praised heavily within the series if your relationship with him is on good terms, with the two having many scenes with each other and Kenny showing to genuinely care for Lee, and even misses Lee in season 2 regardless of your relationship with him.
- His relationship with Clem is also praised and viewed emotionally, no matter how Lee treats Kenny, Kenny shows to have deeply care for Clementine, with season 2 showing himself, despite pulling multiple amoral and shady actions, does deeply care for and want to protect Clementine and A.J.
- He has several quotable and funny lines, such as asking Lee if he can pick a lock because he was “urban” to which he immediately backtracks because he’s from “Florida” as well as insulting Nick using the term “Vanilla Ice” while assuming him and Luke are gay.
- His tragedy in losing his son and his wife and his slip into depression males him extremely sympathetic for a good chunk of the fan base, with his character arc in season 1 being considered very well. His fight with Lee on the train is a highlight to most, showing how truly distraught Kenny has become and how remorseful he was of not protecting people he cared about.
- While some believe his treatment was Ben was harsh, they also find it understandable due to the fact Ben indirectly caused the death of his son and wife, and he later seems to feel remorse for how he treated Ben.
- His reunion with Clementine at episode 2 was rather touching, making a lot of streamers and let’s players tear up and cry, with it being one of the most famous moments in the video game series.
- Some see Kenny’s more violent tendencies and unstableness as tragic due to the loss of his wife and child, and later getting blinded by Carver trying to protect Clementine, showing that Kenny is attempting to help himself but keeps slipping further into unstableness.
- Retrospectively, many people side with Kenny during the final option, seeing Kenny as completely right and justified to be violent and enraged at Jane for believing she left an infant in the cold to die to save herself, leaving more people to let Jane die than to kill him.
- Kenny’s possible death in season 2 and 3 or his departed from Clem in Wellington ending or the alone endings are very emotional, with it being highlighted as one of the most saddest moments in the entire series.
What Do People Hate About Him?[]
- Even in season 1, some people had issues with Kenny, as his relationship with Lee is dependent on following what he wanted, with his methods being pretty cruel, showing anger in Lee in not helping kill Larry, which some thought was too extreme and he could’ve been saved, and if you choose to try and save larry, your relationship with Kenny won’t recover no matter what you do.
- With that, many still criticize Kenny for many choices he does, including abandoning Shawn to be eaten by walkers (which he did feel remorseful over) as well as unwilling to accept his son was gonna die and turn into a Walker soon.
- When he was introduce in season 2 again, many fans and players felt like he was shoe horned in, hogging the spotlight for the Cabin Lodge survivors who were proceeded to be killed off unceremoniously after Kenny’s reintroduction, angering some fans who wanted to see more of them.
- His more violent and unstable behavior in season 2 made people see him as more insufferable than sympathetic, constantly picking fights as well as his hot headed ness risking several people’s lives, and him getting upset at Clementine at times for not siding with him.
- Most infamously, his obsession with trying to reach Wellington was met with many critism, as they reasoned that taking a large group including a new born to go through the cold and risk them freezing, starving and getting killed by walkers all for a community most people don’t know exist is short sighted at best, with his constant obsession and refusal to even debate annoying most people.
- Despite Wellington being an actual community, many point out that the trip would have been for nothing If the group survived anyway, as they wouldn’t have been let into Wellington due to overpopulation, leaving their suffering and journey pointless.
- The other infamous example is with Arvo, where Kenny regularly abuses, spouts slurs at and even beats on when blaming him for Luke’s death, which many saw as completely uncalled for due to Arvo’s situation, and many criticisms towards Arvo shooting Clem only existing to make Kenny right in his situation.
- Many people generally see Kenny as a creator’s pet, with many feeling like the story pushes them into having to agree with Kenny, even if they do not agree with many with his actions or his views, making people push away and frustrated.
Trivia[]
- Kenny is considered one of the most controversial characters within the video game series, and arguably in the whole franchise of The Walking Dead.