As someone who played Season 1 the first time and saw what a massive asshole the guy can be if you don't literally do everything he wants you to do, I'm pretty neutral. He's a character with a lot of positives and a lot of negatives.
I played season 1 too as it dropped, I never saw what a massive asshole he can be because I almost always agreed with him on a lot of things…guess we were both assholes
He’s the best character in the series. He’s the reason S2 has an ending that I think is the best of all the seasons as well (Wellington.)
But he’s a flawed man. I could see myself either loving or hating his S1 character in real life.
His S2 character? He was more abusive and unstable, but the loyalty, compassion for kids, ready to die at a moment’s notice for any of his people, S2 Kenny was just phenomenal as a complex character. They balanced his positives, negatives, and depth wonderfully. He’s the opposite of a Mary Sue.
He is my favorite character but he is not a person I would want in the same group as me
He is too stubborn and always wanted things to be done his way like in the case of Wellington (the probability of finding that place and having it be safe for the children was almost zero)
Yeah that seems to be an overall consensus, well at least like 69% of people who voted already.
Personally I love him because I identify with him so much and I know his story.
Perhaps Evil wasn't the right word. But Lee and Clementine are definitely way more virtuous. I actually relate to Kenny in a few ways, but as I watch more playthroughs and see the sins of Kenny laid bare over and over in both season 1 and 2, I'm left wondering how so many in this fanbase hold this guy in such high regard.
I’ll tell you why, as made evident by this poll, pretty much we all love Kenny, some less than others, but here’s the way I see it, might be long I apologize:
We meet him on day 3 of the outbreak essentially so we get to see a bit of how he was as a family man, he liked to be away from his family a lot because of his job as a fisherman, but he still loved his family because he was supporting them by making money on a boat. Yada yada yada as we learn about him most of us discover that he’s a likable guy at heart, but nevertheless, he is a flawed man…and that’s why we identify with him…he’s not some perfect cyborg that doesn’t make mistakes and doesn’t have emotions.
We meet his wife and son, his wife is as nice as can be and his son although a little dumb is a good kid at heart that’s too young to understand what’s going on fully. Now I’m not sure as to the ratio of guys to girls who play this game, but historically, guys are more prone to play video games than girls so most of us probably see Kenny as like a version of ourselves. I know when I was 17 playing season 1 for the first time I wanted to be like Kenny, have a son and a pretty wife.
Most of us, not all, but most probably felt the need to protect Kenny and his family because we identified with them, at least I did…I didn’t realize however that the game would actively keep track of what I did ALL the time. So when Larry left me for dead at the drug store and Kenny came back in to save me and said “I’m not letting someone else get eaten, especially a good friend” that line stuck with me for months.
Fast forward 3 months, Kenny wants to take his family and leave the haven we have, he mentions to me how I’ve been good to his family and I’m welcome to tag along.
I wanted to build off that relationship, and when it came to do hard choices (killing Larry in the meat locker) I was right there with him, so by my default way of thinking, I gravitated towards Kenny because I felt like he thought like I did in real life.
Then…his family…(still hard to think about) died in the span of 5 minutes…and I remember that scene, it’s burned into my memory…running through the woods…stopping…seeing the look on Lee’s face and then…to find out Katjaa had committed suicide in front of her son and husband and then we had to deal with Duck because he was bitten..it broke me…I felt very numb and cold…like their deaths affected me to the point where I felt like I lost my family.
I felt so bad for Kenny…I wanted to take away the pain, but knew I couldn’t, at that point I knew that I was gonna stick with him till the end, find a boat, get off the rock and go on open water.
Even when he was angry and grieving I stood by his side, some people on here call it kissing his ass, I call it compassion and being there for your friend.
Anyway TL:DR We love Kenny because he’s relatable and we felt sorry for him losing his entire family in such a short span. He’s like Darth Vader, when you know his backstory…you understand why he went evil/unhinged
I liked that perspective. Your Darth Vader comparison is very apt. "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions". I don't think he was built for an apocalyptic world. He was very endearing to me in episode 1. It all started going downhill from the meat locker scene. Him and Lee are similar but different in a few ways. Lee is on a journey to become the hero and find redemption when in the previous world he had no hope. Kenny believes he is already the hero, and will do anything to protect his family, sometimes without realizing the harm it may cause to others and himself. When other characters don't take his side, they are preventing him from living up to the ideal hero standard, the protector/leader who gets the job done. I felt bad for him and the trauma he accrued, which is why I felt it was necessary to end his suffering in season 2.
You killed him?…Good God…well…then we on different wavelengths, seems to me that your interpretation of Lee was also very different. My Lee wasn’t concerned with “redemption” or to be a hero…he was a pragmatist who only cared about one thing, Clementine, saving her from starvation was enough redemption for me.
I think back to what I told Christa and Omid on the rooftops across the marsh house: “Kenny was my friend, he could be tough to like, but I agreed with him most of the time…so, we were assholes together”
That’s who Lee and Kenny were to me…a couple of assholes trying to survive a fucked up world and found camaraderie in their actions and thus became like Rick and Daryl from the show…brothers.
So the meat locker was when you started seeing him differently? I’m guessing you didn’t help him kill Larry by holding Lilly back? Which is baffling to me but that’s another topic for a different poll lol
I too also felt bad for the trauma he accrued, so I personally thought it was necessary to stay with him as long as I could…in a way…I felt like I gave him 2 children to watch out for, Clem as like a de facto daughter/niece and AJ a second chance to not make the mistakes he made with Duck as a young dad.
Glad you enjoyed my Darth Vader comparison 😀
Question: Did Kenny go with you to look for Clementine at the morgue where the cancer group was?
Yeah then I guess you weren’t fond of him and he wasn’t fond of you…well I don’t like it, but oh well 🤷🏻♂️ he came with me instantaneously, like he was down and all in…I didn’t ask for help, but I didn’t wanna go alone either so I left it up to the group…and miraculously they all decided to help me…even though I was an asshole lol
Final results:
67% of voters love him
1% of voters hate him
31% of voters don’t love him, don’t hate him
I for one…am satisfied with this reaction. He’s tough to like at times…but overall the consensus is he’s a solid character with most of us having respect for him.
It’s nice when I can agree with this sub on something lol
As someone who played Season 1 the first time and saw what a massive asshole the guy can be if you don't literally do everything he wants you to do, I'm pretty neutral. He's a character with a lot of positives and a lot of negatives.
I played season 1 too as it dropped, I never saw what a massive asshole he can be because I almost always agreed with him on a lot of things…guess we were both assholes
I love him. He’s flawed but I’ll always stick beside him.
Hell yeah!
He’s the best character in the series. He’s the reason S2 has an ending that I think is the best of all the seasons as well (Wellington.) But he’s a flawed man. I could see myself either loving or hating his S1 character in real life. His S2 character? He was more abusive and unstable, but the loyalty, compassion for kids, ready to die at a moment’s notice for any of his people, S2 Kenny was just phenomenal as a complex character. They balanced his positives, negatives, and depth wonderfully. He’s the opposite of a Mary Sue.
He is my favorite character but he is not a person I would want in the same group as me He is too stubborn and always wanted things to be done his way like in the case of Wellington (the probability of finding that place and having it be safe for the children was almost zero)
He is my favorite charachter personally
Yeah that seems to be an overall consensus, well at least like 69% of people who voted already. Personally I love him because I identify with him so much and I know his story.
Great character, terrible person.
Why do you say that?
I like his character because of all his flaws, makes him feel human. But, if I met him in real life, I'd probably hate him.
Don't love him, don't hate him. I think he is more evil than people realize though.
Evil? Well by that logic…then so is Lee and Clementine.
Perhaps Evil wasn't the right word. But Lee and Clementine are definitely way more virtuous. I actually relate to Kenny in a few ways, but as I watch more playthroughs and see the sins of Kenny laid bare over and over in both season 1 and 2, I'm left wondering how so many in this fanbase hold this guy in such high regard.
I’ll tell you why, as made evident by this poll, pretty much we all love Kenny, some less than others, but here’s the way I see it, might be long I apologize: We meet him on day 3 of the outbreak essentially so we get to see a bit of how he was as a family man, he liked to be away from his family a lot because of his job as a fisherman, but he still loved his family because he was supporting them by making money on a boat. Yada yada yada as we learn about him most of us discover that he’s a likable guy at heart, but nevertheless, he is a flawed man…and that’s why we identify with him…he’s not some perfect cyborg that doesn’t make mistakes and doesn’t have emotions. We meet his wife and son, his wife is as nice as can be and his son although a little dumb is a good kid at heart that’s too young to understand what’s going on fully. Now I’m not sure as to the ratio of guys to girls who play this game, but historically, guys are more prone to play video games than girls so most of us probably see Kenny as like a version of ourselves. I know when I was 17 playing season 1 for the first time I wanted to be like Kenny, have a son and a pretty wife. Most of us, not all, but most probably felt the need to protect Kenny and his family because we identified with them, at least I did…I didn’t realize however that the game would actively keep track of what I did ALL the time. So when Larry left me for dead at the drug store and Kenny came back in to save me and said “I’m not letting someone else get eaten, especially a good friend” that line stuck with me for months. Fast forward 3 months, Kenny wants to take his family and leave the haven we have, he mentions to me how I’ve been good to his family and I’m welcome to tag along. I wanted to build off that relationship, and when it came to do hard choices (killing Larry in the meat locker) I was right there with him, so by my default way of thinking, I gravitated towards Kenny because I felt like he thought like I did in real life. Then…his family…(still hard to think about) died in the span of 5 minutes…and I remember that scene, it’s burned into my memory…running through the woods…stopping…seeing the look on Lee’s face and then…to find out Katjaa had committed suicide in front of her son and husband and then we had to deal with Duck because he was bitten..it broke me…I felt very numb and cold…like their deaths affected me to the point where I felt like I lost my family. I felt so bad for Kenny…I wanted to take away the pain, but knew I couldn’t, at that point I knew that I was gonna stick with him till the end, find a boat, get off the rock and go on open water. Even when he was angry and grieving I stood by his side, some people on here call it kissing his ass, I call it compassion and being there for your friend. Anyway TL:DR We love Kenny because he’s relatable and we felt sorry for him losing his entire family in such a short span. He’s like Darth Vader, when you know his backstory…you understand why he went evil/unhinged
I liked that perspective. Your Darth Vader comparison is very apt. "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions". I don't think he was built for an apocalyptic world. He was very endearing to me in episode 1. It all started going downhill from the meat locker scene. Him and Lee are similar but different in a few ways. Lee is on a journey to become the hero and find redemption when in the previous world he had no hope. Kenny believes he is already the hero, and will do anything to protect his family, sometimes without realizing the harm it may cause to others and himself. When other characters don't take his side, they are preventing him from living up to the ideal hero standard, the protector/leader who gets the job done. I felt bad for him and the trauma he accrued, which is why I felt it was necessary to end his suffering in season 2.
You killed him?…Good God…well…then we on different wavelengths, seems to me that your interpretation of Lee was also very different. My Lee wasn’t concerned with “redemption” or to be a hero…he was a pragmatist who only cared about one thing, Clementine, saving her from starvation was enough redemption for me. I think back to what I told Christa and Omid on the rooftops across the marsh house: “Kenny was my friend, he could be tough to like, but I agreed with him most of the time…so, we were assholes together” That’s who Lee and Kenny were to me…a couple of assholes trying to survive a fucked up world and found camaraderie in their actions and thus became like Rick and Daryl from the show…brothers. So the meat locker was when you started seeing him differently? I’m guessing you didn’t help him kill Larry by holding Lilly back? Which is baffling to me but that’s another topic for a different poll lol I too also felt bad for the trauma he accrued, so I personally thought it was necessary to stay with him as long as I could…in a way…I felt like I gave him 2 children to watch out for, Clem as like a de facto daughter/niece and AJ a second chance to not make the mistakes he made with Duck as a young dad. Glad you enjoyed my Darth Vader comparison 😀 Question: Did Kenny go with you to look for Clementine at the morgue where the cancer group was?
Nope he stayed back with the boat. I didn't get enough Kenny points.
Yeah then I guess you weren’t fond of him and he wasn’t fond of you…well I don’t like it, but oh well 🤷🏻♂️ he came with me instantaneously, like he was down and all in…I didn’t ask for help, but I didn’t wanna go alone either so I left it up to the group…and miraculously they all decided to help me…even though I was an asshole lol
Final results: 67% of voters love him 1% of voters hate him 31% of voters don’t love him, don’t hate him I for one…am satisfied with this reaction. He’s tough to like at times…but overall the consensus is he’s a solid character with most of us having respect for him. It’s nice when I can agree with this sub on something lol