“This man found me and took care of me. His name was Lee. He taught me how to survive.”
This is our list of the top 25 female characters of all-time. We’re into the top 10 now, and counting down one by one until we reach the best of the best on Sept. 30.
6) Clementine (The Walking Dead) – 6 votes/320 points
Chris: The Walking Dead has become a huge success, and for the most part, it has earned every bit of it. Yes, the series still struggles with horrific frame drops on consoles, and several sloppy typos in the text, and some of your choices lacking impact. But all of the negatives are outweighed by the strength of the relationship between Clementine and Lee.
Maybe it’s cliche, but all of the human moments between those two characters — all taking place in a setting where humanity is fleeting — leave their mark. Lee raises Clementine like the daughter he never had, and teaches her important lessons. How to survive in a wasteland an endless supply of undead. How to handle herself like a grown-up even though she’s only 8 at the start of the series. How to shoot a gun. How to keep your hair short to avoid getting grabbed by zombies.
As we mentioned in Lee’s post on the guys list, the ending of Season 1 is all about the feels between Lee and Clementine. So when Clementine sets off on her own in Season 2, we get to see her evolution as a character. She’s more self-sufficient. She’s less trusting. She occasionally flashes a darker side, especially when her trust has been betrayed. And depending on the choices you make, she can be one badass mofo sometimes.
TWD makes you invest in the experience because you care about what happens to Clementine. The creators originally doubted Clem’s importance, thinking players might not be interested. Nope, we’re certainly interested. We want to protect her just like Lee did, and that adds a palpable tension to every life-threatening situation or harrowing five-second choice. The formula works, and even if some of the mistakes or the delayed release dates annoy you, it’s well worth suffering through.
Joseph: This poor girl has a lot going against her. No parents, ambivalent people, strange dogs. In another world, she could have been in a Home Alone movie. In The Walking Dead, she has the constant concern of being eaten alive if her shenanigans don’t pay off. Oh, and she doesn’t get to pull any shenanigans.
Life is pretty bleak for her, and she has to put her faith in Lee Everett to get her set on a path to self reliance. So sure, she’s lost a lot, but she gained so much in meeting Lee that the tradeoff is arguably worth it. And then we have the added benefit of seeing her in the next season. She went from our ward to our avatar, so we could be certain our lessons sunk in.
Sadly, now she is the one who has to make the hard decisions that never end well. Q-tip or cotton ball? Depends on which member of your party you want to keep around. And perhaps more tragic is how people treat her. Lee was an adult. Clementine is still a kid, making members of your group less likely to listen even if you have good decisions. I just hope she gets a semi-happy ending some day.
Jason: I have yet to finish The Walking Dead Season 1 and I already love Clementine. I can only assume that love is going to increase in Season 2. That being said, I didn’t put her on my list because I have a thing against voting for characters who’s games I’ve yet to finish.
I will say this though, the fact that I’d rather have Clementine as my partner in the zombie apocalypse instead of pretty much anyone else (sans maybe Daryl), is telling. That kid is smart, resourceful, and one of the most loyal companions any guy could ask for. Keep on being you, Clementine, you rock.
Michaela: Every time I watch Shaun play the Walking Dead, I am continually impressed by Clementine’s bravery and resourcefulness. If anything, it makes me feel dumb in comparison, because if I was in a zombie apocalypse, I would die immediately. Clementine, less than half my age, has managed to survive the zombie apocalypse both with the help of her allies, but also thanks to her quick thinking and good instincts. She’s someone to look up to, and she’s one of the few well-written children characters in a video game. Her fears are believable and genuine for her age, and part of this is conveyed so effectively because of the phenomenal voice work of Melissa Hutchison.
Shaun: Clementine was a great character that helped you truly feel miserable about every choice you made in Season One, but for me, it was her depiction in Season Two that ultimately sealed the deal on me voting this poor girl so high on our list. Yes, her life is awful, but that alone doesn’t make a great character. It’s how she responds to constantly being thrown in every bad situation imaginable that makes her truly compelling.
Let me tell you a story: if I was Lee Everett, a large, strong individual who has experience with firearms, I would probably find the nearest high building and jump off it in the zombie apocalypse. Clementine is a tiny kid, and yet she still manages to rely on her resourcefulness, intelligence, and survival experience to overcome every situation and monster, whether it be zombie or human. She’s seen every horror, and yet she’s still fighting to keep her innocence and humanity, even though it always ends up biting her (literally and figuratively). You see the type of people that the apocalypse has created, and you sometimes wonder if humanity is worth saving. Clementine reminds you that it is, and that’s a powerful thing.
Christine: With Clementine being the main character of Season 2, it makes seeing how she develops between the first and second games an interesting experience to watch. Clementine starts off as an innocent kid who’s looking for her parents when Lee first meets her. As situations keep getting more dangerous and grimmer, Lee is forced to teach Clementine basic survival skills to give her a better shot at staying alive. By the end of Season 1, Clementine is no longer the naive little girl she once was. She grows up well beyond the time she should have.
Season 2 finds Clementine utilizing the very skills and tricks Lee and others have taught her along the way. She’s a tough little girl who’s resourceful and knows her way around a weapon. There’s a sense of world weariness in her demeanor, pushing herself to keep going in spite of bearing witness to friends dying or having to make tough decisions no girl her age should have to do. Her experiences and how she responds to situations makes her truly a character that’s both memorable and really complex to play as.
TOP 25 FEMALE CHARACTERS
Introduction/Honorable Mention
Gray Areas 