History VideoGame / TheWalkingDeadSeasonOne

-->-- ''No Time Left''

* IdiotBall: Really, [[spoiler: the stranger]] had to have been holding this. It turns out, [[spoiler: he owned the car the group stole supplies from in Episode 2, and those supplies were necessary to the survival of his wife and kid.]] Okay, we get it, he's pissed about that, but he did a pretty shitty job [[spoiler: ''making the fucking thing '''not''' look abandoned.'']] Two points in particular:

** With the interesting caveat that Lee, if he [[spoiler: rejected the idea of stealing from the car]], can actually justify his part in the decision by saying [[spoiler: that he refused to help the others because he suspected it might not have been abandoned, precisely '''because''' the lights were still on]]. Though the follow-through is not explicitly stated (and while the stranger doesn't consider this to excuse Lee's culpability), this actually makes sense after a moment's logical thought - [[spoiler: the car wasn't actually running. If it had been abandoned for a significant length of time with all the lights on, the batteries would have already run down, and the lights wouldn't be on anymore; either it had been abandoned that very day, or it hadn't been abandoned at all. Even if it was running, it would only last as long as its tank of gas, at which point the same reasoning would apply]]. Given the reason the stranger [[spoiler: and his family left the car - to find his son - it makes a certain amount of sense to leave it as a beacon in the light for them, or their missing son, to find again]]. An complete blindness as to [[spoiler: the possibility of other people like said bandits or Lee's group coming by, certainly, but not completely irrational from the perspective of someone who hadn't really mentally adjusted to the post-apocalyptic world yet]]. Which, to be fair, may itself be a form of IdiotBall.

** One also has to wonder why Lee changes his outfit from thick, layered shirts underneath a leather jacket to a light-blue collared shirt over a sweater, considering it's mentioned that winter is approaching in about a month as of Episode 3. It can double as a bit of Fridge Hypocrisy if [[spoiler: Lee decides to join the group in looting the Stranger's station wagon in Episode 2, since doing so will have him give Clementine a hoodie because it's getting colder out.]] Similarly, one might even have a case of FridgeLogic after thinking back on this. Oh, but lo and behold, does this change in attire [[spoiler: take a bite out of him at the end of Episode 4.]]
* ImAHumanitarian: [[spoiler:The St. John Dairy Farm from Episode 2 hides a sinister secret.]]

* ImprovisedScrewdriver: After [[spoiler:Larry's]] death, Lee must search the corpse's pockets for some coins, which he can use as improvised screwdrivers to remove an air conditioner from the wall of the room they're locked in.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:Averted, sadly, with Duck in Episode 3, who either gets shot by Lee to prevent him from turning, or is left to turn as Kenny and Lee walk away.]]

** [[spoiler:Subverted. It looks like some of the messages, like one that says "Carley will remember that" in Episode 3, are there only to deceive the player and hide way better the "spoilers", in this case it's only to make her death seconds later even more shocking.]] In Episode 5, [[spoiler:almost all of the "[Character] will remember that" messages Double Subvert this when Lee explains his actions/choices.]]

* InterfaceScrew: At least once a zombie will attack right in the middle of a conversation menu, and "This character will remember X action" won't always show up for every significant action, nor is it indicative of how important it is down the line.

** Defied depending on the players choices: Lee's [[spoiler:conviction gets revealed by Lily in Episode 3, but if he saved Carley he has the option of telling everyone before hand.]]

* ItGetsEasier: Averted or played straight with Lee, depending on the player. Lee will alternatively struggle with violence, or barely bat an eye [[spoiler:when he kills the BigBad(s) of Episode 2, and shows almost no distress if he helps Kenny with the salt lick.]] Played straight by Kenny.
** Can be simultaneously [[InvokedTrope invoked]] and [[AvertedTrope averted]] in Episode five. [[spoiler: If Lee tells Clementine to leave him rather than granting him a MercyKill as he succumbs to being bitten, he can tell her this trope and that he doesn't want her to get used to killing a person because she should only do so if it's absolutely necessary.]]

** His daughter Lilly, as well. [[spoiler:And she gets worse]].

** [[spoiler: Larry is a jerkass, but it's possible for the player to make him (partially) right about you if you consistently pick "asshole" choices, such as repeatedly insulting him to his face or persuading him to eat human flesh.]]
** [[spoiler:Kenny's decision to kill Larry. Even if Lee and Lilly managed to get breathing for a bit, the odds are ''severely'' stacked against someone with a heart attack living with no medical aid. CPR is essentially stalling for time until actual medical helps arrives, and being trapped in a small room would make that unavailable. Kenny was probably right in wanting to take no chances that the biggest, strongest person in the room became a walker in close quarters.]]
* JustIgnoreIt: When [[spoiler: Duck]] gets bit, [[spoiler: Kenny's]] only way of coping is to pretend it's not going to be a problem. [[spoiler: He's gone out of his way to prioritize the safety of his family and at this point, shutting down and going into denial is the only mental option he has left to "keep" his son safe. Lee has to knock some sense into him (verbally or physically)]].

** It's quickly apparent in ''No Time Left'' that losing his wife and children has driven [[spoiler: the Stranger]] mad.

* BaitAndSwitch: Episode 2 is initially set up to make the player believe the ''bandits'' are going to be the villains of Episode 2. They even get featured as prominent villains in the episode "preview" you get upon completing Episode 1, with the St. John family featured in the trailer as yet another batch of [[HeroicBystander heroic bystanders]] like the Greenes were. As it turns out, [[spoiler: while the bandits ''are'' assholes, the ''real'' villains of Episode 2 are the St. John brothers and mother themselves]]. And later, depending on what you choose to believe of [[spoiler: the Stranger]]'s story in Episode 5, [[spoiler:'''you''' might be the real villain of that episode]].

** There's a JumpScare later on in Episode 4 when Lee is revisiting the shack in Crawford he used to get over to the garage. A zombie hidden from the player's eyes randomly attacks Lee out of nowhere despite the fact that he probably could've ''smelled'' the zombie the second he walked inside. [[spoiler: He gets bitten as a result]].

** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], however, because if someone ''chooses'' to die, they can at least blow their brains out and thus not come back as a walker. Dying at the hands of the walkers, on the other hand, is not only unpleasant but all but guarantees that the person will come back as a walker and possibly kill other people. [[spoiler: Clementine can kill Lee at the end if the player chooses]].

** In ''Long Road Ahead'', the characters finally make it to Savannah and get some new survivors, but [[spoiler: Carley/Doug, Katjaa, and Duck are dead, Lilly either leaving the group or left on the road, and you find out that Clementine has been talking to someone without Lee or anyone else noticing]].

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted, the only black guy in the group is the protagonist. In fact, even if the player gets him killed while playing as him, he's still never the actual first death: the very earliest in the game Lee can die is when he's attacked by a zombie after the police car crashes— and that's after the walkers kill the officer first, turning him into a Walker. So even if the player get Lee killed right away, he's the ''second'' to die in the whole game and not the ''first''.
** [[spoiler: Can potentially become [[InveteTrope inverted]] at the end of the game— if Clementine mercy kills him, then he is the ''last'' character in Season One shown dying]].

'''Clementine''': ({{beat}}) I don't know...

** [[spoiler: The game ends with Clementine wandering through a field and seeing two people on a hill who ''might'' be Christa and Omid, and the fate of Vernon's group is never addressed]].[[note Although part of Vernon's group is reintroduced in ''400 Days'', but not the man himself and a few others [[/note]]]].

** Near the beginning of Episode 2, Mark talks about Larry's powerfully muscled form and notes that he "wouldn't want to be locked in a room with him". Near the end of the episode, Lilly, Larry, Lee and Kenny are indeed locked in a room together, though the humor is lost when Larry suffers suffers a possibly fatal heart attack, which they know would result in being trapped with a very strong Walker.

* ButThouMust: You are often given three options or silence as a reply to timed responses. If you pit Hershel against Shawn in an argument about fortifying the farm, you have four replies that can time out twice before the game forces you to choose one, taking Shawn's side.

** All the sadistic choices count too, as you are forced to choose, and whatever you choose, someone is going to end up dead or really pissed at Lee.
** At times, all the dialogue options you're offered for a given choice amount to basically the same sentiment, just phrased slightly differently.

** In Episode 3, [[spoiler: after Duck gets bitten, Katjaa will always be the one who goes to MercyKill him, no matter what Lee tries to say. Naturally, this results in her suicide]].

** Or alternatively, if you were [[spoiler:''not'' loyal]]:

* NotSoDifferent: Kenny and Larry. Both are unreasonable, violent and [[PapaWolf Papa Wolves]]. Larry, however, is a JerkAss. What Kenny becomes is probably dependent on Lee's choices. Lee and [[spoiler:The Stranger]] are remarkably similar. With how they both hurt their own [[spoiler: families]] bringing up an eerie familiarity.

** In episode five when you finally make it to the Marsh House hotel, [[spoiler: after literally fighting through a horde of Walkers]], you find the hallways to be completely empty, which just makes it more unsettling.

** [[spoiler: Subverted with Lilly. Whereas Kenny WILL follow you to hell and back provided you have his back, Lilly will still sell you out as a murderer to the group and try to bring you down with her even if you sided with her and Larry 100% of the time]].

* {{Railroading}}: One of the most common complaints about the game is that sometimes you don't really get a choice even when offered one, and the story will usually proceed as it usually does. The game does sometimes [[{{LampshadeHanging}} lampshade]] this trope, particularly when Lee talks to Kenny alone in the Drug Store.

** "Too Much Salt Will Kill You": [[spoiler:Kenny bashing Larry's head in with a salt lick.]]

** "No Time Left": It's not an achievement, but it's still a pun. [[spoiler: You have little time in Episode 5, the one with said title, because you got bit. Even if you cut your arm off, you still can't survive. It could be because of the blood loss, you getting your arm cut by something that probably isn't all the clean, or the fact that you didn't remove the bitten arm immediately after the bite. The arm that gets bit is your ''left'' hand. It also has your watch.]] Get it? [[PunctuatedForEmphasis No. Time. LEFT!]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Maybelle, the St. John farm's cow, isn't ever brought up again after you find out [[spoiler:the St. John family are a CannibalClan]]. Andre the policeman disappears after dropping Lee and Clem off at the Greene farm at night. In Episode 5 [[spoiler: Molly does not return after leaving the group, but considering that Savannah is completely overrun, her odds are not good]].

* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler:Kenny radically differentiates between his family and others when it comes to zombification; crushing Larry's head without hesitation in front of his daughter while she's trying to resuscitate him because he had a heart attack is ''totally necessary'', but when Duck is dying from a bite, he's convinced everyone needs to back off ''because their son is different and won't turn.'']]

* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler: Subverted. In the end, it doesn't matter who you made friends with or who hates your guts. The closest thing you get to alternate endings is if Clem shoots Lee, or leaves him to turn into a walker.]]

** Lee and Clementine sleep in Hershel's barn, and he is later shown cleaning it up. [[spoiler: In the comics and the TV show, this is where he locks up zombie family members. Including Shawn, whom you fail to save.]]

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtkkHAmgYWs debut trailer]] shows a lot of things that don't happen in the game proper or in an altered fashion, the most notable probably being Ben, Kenny, and Lee in a forest with Christa, who [[DrivenToSuicide shoots herself in the head]] with a gun. [[spoiler:This situation does come to pass in Episode 3, but with Katjaa rather than Christa, who you don't even meet until later]].

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Depending on how well the player does, Lee can deliver a brutal beatdown to the BigBad of Episode 2's face. Molly delivers one to a zombie in Episode 4. [[spoiler:She has good reason to]].
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Lee helpfully utters a variation of this ("No one was getting out of there") if [[spoiler: Kenny seemingly sacrifices himself to save Ben in Episode 5. Since Kenny was in a narrow alleyway with a horde of walkers approaching from either end, almost no ammo left, no other weapons and about a second to think of an escape plan before the walkers were on him, its understandable he would think as much. Sure enough, though, Kenny survives and reappears in Season 2 without any explanation except for he 'got lucky.']]

* NotSoDifferent: Kenny and Larry. Both are unreasonable, violent and [[PapaWolf Papa Wolves]]. Larry, however, is a JerkAss. What Kenny becomes is probably dependent on Lee's choices. Lee and [[spoiler:The Stranger]] are remarkably similar. With how they both hurt their [[spoiler:family]] bringing up an eerie familiarity.

** In Episode Five, you at one point have to cross a rickety bridge erected between two buildings over a waterway full of walkers. Christa warns Lee to be careful, the camera pans above him, the action cursor appears, and you [[spoiler: walk across the entire thing without any problems.]]
** In episode five when you finally make it to the Marsh House hotel, [[spoiler: after literally fighting through a horde of walkers,]] you find the hallways to be completely empty, which just makes it more unsettling.
* NotUsingTheZWord: None of the survivors calls the Zombies ''Zombies'' - instead, they're called ''Walkers'' or simply ''The Dead''.
** This is actually played with in a couple of funny ways. Lee refers to them as zombies a grand total of ''once'' in episode 1. In episode 2 when he refers to them as Walkers, Andy acts amused at the terminology. And in episode 4 when you meet another survivor who has been fending for herself long before you show up she refers to them as ''Geeks'' with her own justification for doing so. The game's interface does occasionally refer to them as zombies, however.

* OffBridgeOntoVehicle: Lee and Omid do this when escaping a horde of walkers. Omid falls off and [[RealityEnsues badly injures himself.]]

** Kenny apparently beat a zombie to death with his bare hands, [[PapaWolf after it grabbed Duck]].

** Various characters do this either for the sake of convenience or plot importance, such as Andrew St. John talking to you about the farm and [[spoiler:The Stranger sneaking up on Lee]].
* OffstageVillainy: [[spoiler: The people of Crawford have deigned to create a SocialDarwinist utopia that ruthlessly weeded out those too young, old or sick to pull their weight into survival. Other than a video making it clear that any pregnancies had to be aborted if the mother wished to stay protected, Molly resorting to SexualExtortion to hide and treat her sister's diabetes, and the impaled zombies (who may have been candidates for Crawford that didn't make the grade), we never see any of their cruelty firsthand.]]
* OhCrap: Lee gets seriously scared in Episode 5 when [[spoiler:he wakes up, almost ready to turn, to find out Clem locked herself in the room with him.]]

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: At first the [[NotUsingTheZWord Walkers]] appear to be your standard zombies. [[spoiler:Then you learn that they don't need to bite to spread their condition: '''all''' dead with intact brain stems become zombies.]][[note:Actually, the "standard" Romero zombies had this feature too. Less attention was drawn to it, however[[/note]].
* OutrunTheFireball: Although you never actually see the explosion, its inferred because [[spoiler: Lee kicks a lit blowtorch onto a leaking fuel tanker to try and blow up a horde of walkers.]] Before jumping onto the roof of a speeding train.

* ParentalAbandonment: Before the outbreak, Clementine's parents left her with a babysitter so they could go on a trip to another city. [[spoiler: They didn't make it.]]
* PerpetualPoverty: By Episode 2 everyone's hunger and your food shortage is a major plot point. However, the only points where you find food are at the end of Episode 2 and the beginning of Episode 3. Despite [[spoiler:losing everything in the bandit attack, no one in your group complains about food again. The only character in the entire series to starve to death is Fivel, a minor character who died off-screen.]]
* PhilosophicalChoiceEndings: "Is survival worth risking becoming a violent monster?" In the ending, you have to decide over Lee's fate, but in a way that is also your last lesson for Clementine. Do you want to a) have her shoot Lee and teach her to survive at any cost, even if through violence, or do you b) teach her to abstain from violence when ever possible to prevent her from possibly turning into a ruthless monster. With the game often giving you the opportunity to use violence or not, this perfectly fits the games general theme pretty well.'

* PoorlyTimedConfession: In Episode 4, Ben finally decides to tell Kenny about [[spoiler:his dealings with the bandits which led to the death of Katjaa and Duck]] while walkers, that were accidentally let in thanks to him, are trying to break in. Kenny becomes furious and tries to attack Ben, but he was held back so he decides to not let him on the boat when they escape. And before escaping the area, [[spoiler:Lee has to decide Ben's fate to live or die and Kenny silently encourages Lee to let him die.]]

** [[spoiler: Subverted with Lilly. Whereas Kenny WILL follow you to hell and back provided you have his back, Lilly will still sell you out as a murderer to the group and try to bring you down with her even if you sided with her and Larry 100% of the time.]]

* ShutUpHannibal: The player can do this, to a limited extent, to [[spoiler: the Stranger,]] by telling him "You fucked up" when he talks about how [[spoiler: your stealing the food from his car]] destroyed his family. You can also answer "Yes" when he asks if he looks like a monster to you. He responds to both by merely ignoring your defiance and continuing with his rant. You can also do a more successful version of this by [[spoiler: having Lee say he'll bite the Stranger and cause him to turn since he's already been bitten himself when the Stranger threatens to kill him: doing so will cause him to stutter momentarily.]] And speaking to him politely at the beginning of the conversation will temporarily derail him.

* SilentCredits: [[RuleOfDrama Episode 5.]] [[spoiler:At least before the semi-hopeful epilogue, anyway.]]

* TheSlowWalk: Near the end of Episode 5, [[spoiler: Lee does this when there is a horde of Walkers between himself and the hotel where Clementine is being held. With no other way around them, and running out of time, Lee decides to just push through, determinedly walking through the crowd and hacking the heads of any Walkers that get too close while keeping a steady pace.]]

* TheSocialDarwinist: [[spoiler:The St. Johns in Episode 2, who consider anyone wounded or weak as lower on the food chain, and to be treated as a meat resource and slowly eaten.]] [[spoiler:Also, the inhabitants of Crawford, who don't allow anyone who isn't a completely healthy adult in the city (namely, cancer survivors, anyone under 14, people with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, the pregnant, the elderly, or the disabled to name a few).]]

* StabTheScorpion: [[spoiler:Larry does one to Lee when the group is leaving the pharmacy.]] In Episode 2, you get the option to stab an adjacent hay bale if you spare someone's life.

* StockScream: Part of the Wilhelm Scream can be heard at the end of Episode One [[spoiler: as Doug gets dragged out the window to his death after the SadisticChoice. Averted if you save him instead of Carley.]]

* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:That's how Doug dies in Episode 3 while trying to protect Ben.]]
* TemporaryLoveInterest: [[spoiler:Carley, if she is alive in Episode 3, has some flirtatious dialogue with Lee. Of course this means she's a goner.]]
* TemptingFate: Lilly says she thinks everything is going to be okay at the hotel at the end of Episode 1. [[spoiler:Then the power goes out, and things only get worse from there.]]
** [[spoiler:All of the group besides Kenny, Lee and Lilly think the St. John Dairy exists as some kind of miracle, even ignoring such things as Mark getting shot with an arrow because they broke a deal with ''bandits''. They even ignore the fact that they have an ample supply of meat despite the fact there is one cow on the farm. Bonus points as they mention at every turn they get how great it is.]]
** Both Carley and Larry let Lee know they've figured out his secret, and both come with the choice to be offed at some point (namely, [[spoiler:in Episode 1 and 2 respectively, though the latter happens regardless and neither can survive past Episode 3]]).
** Larry states that he's going to survive longer than Lee, and that he's going to be the one to kill Lee if he turns. [[spoiler:As was said previously, no matter what you do, he dies anyway right after saying this.]]
** Kenny does this to himself [[spoiler:on a few occasions, such as avoiding the "What if it was your family?" arguments by insisting that Duck and Katjaa would never come to harm or be in that position. Cue episode 3 where and Duck is infected and Katjaa kills herself.]]
** [[spoiler:The man who kidnaps Clementine does this as he talks to his wife's reanimated head in a bowling bag, saying that Clementine "wouldn't hurt a fly". Cue meat cleaver, table lamp or if you don't prompt her, her fist.]]
* [[spoiler:TheHeroDies: Lee Everett at the end of Episode 5.]]

* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Played with near the end of Episode 2 when [[spoiler: Lee confronts Brenda; your dialogue choices are "It doesn't have to end like this!" or "Put the gun down, bitch!" Trying to act 'tough' leads to Brenda shooting Lee and causing a NonStandardGameOver.]]

* ToBeContinued: The first three episodes are followed by previews of the next episode, and [[TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything the previews all reflect your choices]]. The fourth episode, however, lacks a preview of Episode 5. [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil For obvious reasons, considering it's the grand finale.]] Later seasons continued this trend.

* UngratefulBastard=/=UngratefulBitch:

** Kenny too, you could have defended his kid from zombies and Larry, give them food, support his leadership, and he still whines about [[spoiler: you didn't help him kill Larry, who was (maybe) still breathing right before he got turned into LudicrousGibs]]

* VillainOfAnotherStory: The mysterious voice on the radio is only a villain at all because [[spoiler:''Lee's group were the villains of his story'': their theft of his supplies caused his remaining family to leave him and subsequently die, and he came after revenge]].

** Especially bad in the sewer level during Episode 4, where Lee can walk straight into walkers the player doesn't see because of the camera angle. The worst is when the camera angle hides that there is one ''holding on to his foot'', instead looking like it's just stuck in a grate.

* DoomedByCanon[=/=]SavedByCanon: The characters from the comics and those from the video game largely don't overlap, but the ones that do mostly appear in Episode 1: If you've read the comics, you'll know that [[spoiler:Shawn]] will die and become a zombie, which happens during the episode, and [[spoiler:Herschel and Glenn]] will live and later appear in the comics. This was originally the case of Lilly, but thanks to a {{Retcon}} she has now been confirmed as a different character.
* DownerEnding: Episode 5 ends with [[spoiler:almost all of Lee's group dead, with the only members left with a possibility of being alive preparing to go through a city filled with thousands of walkers. Lee slowly dies from either blood loss, the zombie infection, or a mix of both, all while he guides a tearful Clementine through how to survive without him. Afterwards, Clementine [[SadisticChoice either has to let her surrogate father and mentor turn into a walker, or kill him herself]]. The only thing that saves it from being horrifically depressing is the post-credits scene that shows Clementine made it out of Savannah safely, and the last scene of the game hints that she might have found Omid and Christa.]]

** In episode 1, [[spoiler:Irene, the young girl you find at the Motor Inn, as she was bitten]].

** In episode 3, [[spoiler:Katjaa shoots herself in "Long Road Ahead"]] after she carries [[spoiler:a rapidly-fading Duck into the forest with Kenny]].
** In episode 4, [[spoiler:Chuck, when he was cornered by zombies in the sewers]].
** Also in episode 4, [[spoiler:Ben, blaming himself for Duck's and Katjaa's deaths, begs Lee to let him die]].
** And in episode 5, [[spoiler:Kenny, partly in atonement for his treatment of Ben, stays behind in an alleyway to MercyKill him with the last bullet in a gun, in the face of a horde of walkers.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: You can play Lee as an unrepentant murderer and JerkAss, and some of the things he sees will ''still'' repulse him.
* EverybodyKnewAlready: [[spoiler:Invoked, if Lee chooses to tell everyone about his conviction in Episode 3.]]
* EverybodysDeadDave: [[spoiler:By the end of Episode 5, everyone save Clem and possibly Omid and Christa are dead. Including Lee.]]

* FinalGirl: [[spoiler:Clementine is the ''only'' party member who definitely survives season 1.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "It goes to show, people will up and go mad when they think their life is over."

* GondorCallsForAid: When [[spoiler:Lee gets bitten by a walker and Clementine gets kidnapped by the Stranger]] in Episode 4, Lee goes looking for her. Your past relationship with the survivors determines who joins you. If you play your cards right, you can end up with ''every'' group member choosing to go with him, [[spoiler:[[TrueCompanions even if you choose to reveal the bite. In fact, revealing it actually increases the likelihood of Omid and Christa going with you]]]].

** Used during Episode 2, where if you kill the BigBad(s) the MoralityPet will be scared of you, and if you [[spoiler: try to save Larry, your former best friend (assuming certain choices) will throw a hissy fit and hate you]]. And if you want to please Clementine, you better not take that delicious food in that car.

** When you try to save David at the beginning of Episode 2, you are given a variety of items to seemingly release the trap with. They of course all fail, leaving the choice only to leave him or cut through his leg - which is a very gory process.

** At times, all dialogue options for a given choice amount to the same sentiment, just phrased slightly differently. This is most obvious at the end of ''Around Every Corner'' when Clem asks Lee if [[spoiler: they have time to search for her parents]], and the four responses amount to "No", "Sorry but no", "Hell no", and "[Lie]", forcing the player to [[spoiler:invoke the major cliffhanger where she goes missing]].
** In Episode 3, [[spoiler: after Duck gets bitten, Katjaa will always be the one who goes to MercyKill him, no matter what Lee tries to say. Naturally, this results in her suicide.]]

** When Clementine is unable to shoot a walker in the train station in ''Long Road Ahead'', Lee can say she just needs to learn to pull the trigger. If she's the one who kills [[spoiler: the Stranger]], Lee will comment that he wishes she hadn't had to learn to pull the trigger. Alternatively, he can tell her not to be afraid, and then she'll say that she wasn't.

** When Lee enters the barn, he'll ask about the salt licks. [[spoiler :A couple of scenes later, Kenny kills Larry with one. Just in case the player didn't examine them while in the meat locker]].

* ChekhovsSkill: At the beginning of "Long Road Ahead", Clementine demonstrates to Lee how she made a pencil imprint of a leaf due to remembering it from school. Lee remembers this, and uses the same technique to get the imprint of an engine operation diagram when the group discovers the train.

** Also two minor characters [[spoiler: who are killed off shortly after they're introduced]] also have color-coded subtitles: The unnamed police officer is light blue, and Irene is dark pink.

** In Episode One, "A New Day", when the drug store gets overwhelmed by the walkers, [[spoiler: Carley]] or [[spoiler: Doug]] will become the victim of this depending on who you choose to save.
** In Episode Two, "Starved For Help", Travis or David will suffer this fate depending on who you save. If Lee chooses to save David, who's leg is caught in a bear trap, Travis will be distracted and he'll be devoured by several walkers. If Lee doesn't save Daivd in time, Travis will try to take Mark's hunting rifle but will get accidentally shot, forcing the others to leave David behind to be devoured by the walkers.

** Episode 4 has [[spoiler: Molly]], though this could be out of a desire to not [[spoiler:split the group up]].

* CallBack: At the end of Episode 2, Carley finds some batteries and gives them to Lee. His response, recalling Carley's radio troubles in the previous episode.
** Astute players may notice a certain modified bear trap inside the slaughterhouse in "Starved For Help".
** Whatever word Lee used to explain the smell of Hershel's barn in "A New Day", Clem will use to explain the smell of the St. John's barn in "Starved For Help".
** Carley's [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket problems with batteries]] in "A New Day" become a RunningGag when she offers Lee some batteries at the end of "Starved For Help" and when she asks if the batteries are backwards in a broken flashlight in "Long Road Ahead".

** The achievement upon arriving in Savannah in "Around Every Corner" is called "Georgia's First City," referencing its foundation in 1733. After you escape from [[spoiler: the overrun Crawford]], the achievement is called "Georgia's Last City."

--> Lee: Keep that hair short.
** In "Around Every Corner", you meet Molly, who uses church bells to attract hordes away from where she's looting. At the beginning of "No Time Left", Lee uses the same trick to escape the hospital.
** When Clem is unable to shoot a walker in the train station in "Long Road Ahead", Lee can say she just needs to learn to pull the trigger. If she's the one who kills [[spoiler:The Stranger]], Lee will comment that he wishes she hadn't had to learn to pull the trigger. Alternatively, he can tell her not to be afraid, and then she'll say that she wasn't.

** Episode 4 has [[spoiler:Molly]], though this could be out of a desire to not [[spoiler:split the group up]].

** Also in Episode 2 is [[spoiler:the option to turn down the offer of food and safety from the St. Johns. Since it makes no sense for Lee to turn it down, second time players trying to avoid the nightmarish plot that results see Lee get outvoted, before Clementine's hunger changes his opinion.]]
** Again in Episode 2, the game does this if you try to [[spoiler:return to dinner without investigating, or try to head back down stairs after starting to investigate; the game pretty much demands the player continue ''by having Mark audibly scream out for help and bang on the floor.'']]
** And one more time in Episode 2: [[spoiler: Think you can avoid the whole mess with the Stranger by refusing to steal the supplies from the station wagon? Lee and Clementine will just stand aside while the rest of the group takes them anyway.]]

** At times, all dialogue options for a given choice amount to the same sentiment, just phrased slightly differently. This is most obvious at the end of "Around Every Corner" when Clem asks Lee if [[spoiler:they have time to search for her parents]], and the four responses amount to "No", "Sorry but no", "Hell no", and "[Lie]", forcing the player to [[spoiler:invoke the major cliffhanger where she goes missing]].

** [[spoiler: In Episode 3 Lee cuts Clementine's hair to ensure she won't get grabbed by the walkers easily. Shortly before Lee succumbs to his bite he can give Clem a last piece of advice.]]
-->Lee: "Keep that hair short."

* BettyAndVeronica: Depending on how you choose to interact with them, Lilly and Carley could potentially be implied romantic interests with Lee. With Lilly being a jaded and insecure "Betty", and Carley being the slightly more glamorous city girl "Veronica". [[spoiler: Nothing comes of this in either case]].

* BloodIsTheNewBlack: Lee ends up like this in Episode 1 after either bludgeoning Clementine's babysitter to death or slipping in a pool of blood. In Episode 2, depending upon your choices, [[spoiler:poor Lilly]] can get splattered with [[spoiler:her own father's]] blood. If this happens, they remain like this for the rest of the chapter. And [[spoiler:both Lee and Clementine]] end up like this in episode 5 as part of a ploy to get past the walkers.

** In Episode Four of Chapter One, this is also the case for [[spoiler: Kenny]] who jumps down to help [[spoiler: either Ben or Christa]] depending on your [[StoryBranching branching paths]]. Said person can MercyKill them off-screen, and then Lee climbs back up and the camera loses track, and we don't see the character again.
** [[spoiler: The game ends with Clementine wandering through a field and seeing two people on a hill who ''might'' be Christa and Omid, and the fate of Vernon's group is never addressed]].[[spoiler: Although part of Vernon's group is reintroduced in ''400 Days'', but not the man himself and a few others]].

** In Episode 1, [[spoiler:The policeman driving Lee dies after being pulled from the cars by walkers off-screen. Lee will have to kill Sandra, Clementine's zombified babysitter. Chet, Shawn's friend, will be alive if you travel in the day, but traveling at night, he'll approach you as a walker. Later at Hershel's farm, walkers will crawl over the barricade-fence and kill Shawn. Lee finds the bodies of his parents and his undead brother outside the pharmacy. No matter what you do, Irene (the girl whom you set out to save) will take Carley's gun and commit suicide. If you choose to save Carley at the end, Doug will be pulled out of the pharmacy by walkers and eaten. If you choose to save Doug, Carley be pulled by the hair by walkers and devoured]].
** In ''Starved For Help'', [[spoiler: Travis will either be left behind and eaten by walkers or will reanimate after dying from a gunshot wound. Similarly, his teacher can also either be left behind or will reanimate from his leg wound. While walking to the St. John farm, the group will see a bandit murder another bandit with a shotgun overkill. Jolene, the mad woman at the camp, will be shot by either Danny or Lee. Mark will have his legs cut off for food by the St. Johns and die from his wounds off-screen. Larry will suffer from a heart-attack in the meat locker, and Kenny will smash his head in with a salt-lick (possibly with Lee's help.) You have the option to kill Danny with a pitchfork in the barn. Brenda St. John will be killed by a reanimated Mark while holding Katjaa hostage. You have the option to kill Andrew St. John, but it's implied that even if you spare him and his brother, they both die in the ensuing Walker attack]].

** Depending on who arrives, either [[spoiler:Doug's laser pointer or Carley's gun is used to distract Andrew St. John before he can shoot Lee]].

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Hey, remember that station wagon with the supplies at the end of Episode 2? The one that everyone was pretty sure had been abandoned? Turns out it wasn't, and the owner is the one responsible for kidnapping Clementine]] for episode 4's cliffhanger ending.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Episode 4 ends on a doozy of one: [[spoiler: Clementine goes missing and Lee gets ambushed by a walker while searching for her and bitten on the left arm. Lee goes off to look for her - either alone, with some survivors, and maybe ALL of the survivors - and head to Vernon's hideaway thinking he took her, but find it's empty. Just when all seems lost, the walkie springs to life with Clem on the end, who's promptly replaced by her kidnapper. No matter what response you pick, you never hear Lee speak it because he finds himself speechless before the screen cuts to black. What's more, there no preview of the next episode either]].
** [[spoiler: Episode 5 ends on a minor one: After the credits, we see that Clementine was able to get out of Savannah but didn't find Omid and Christa. Then she suddenly notices two people in the distance and the game ends.]] This ended up being a SequelHook for the second season.

** Also two minor characters [[spoiler:who are killed off shortly after they're introduced]] also have color-coded subtitles: The unnamed police officer is light blue, and Irene is dark pink.
** [[spoiler: Other short-lived characters use the same white font as Lee, for instance Mark. Don't get too attached to these people.]]
** The background for each episode's achievements share the same colors. Green for episode 1, blue for 2, purple for 3, orange for 4 and red for 5.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Larry has a medical problem and needs nitroglycerine, so his group gets into a pharmacy before the player meets them. And who does this pharmacy belong to? Lee's family.

** The player can indulge in this at the end of Episode 2 if they [[spoiler:leave Andrew the only remaining John, tell him his mother and brother are both dead, beat the crap out of him and then leave him screaming in the mud]].
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: [[spoiler:If you're fast enough. Larry shows signs of waking up... though he might just be reanimating.]]

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Lee [[spoiler: killed a state senator he caught in bed with his wife]]. Worse, a couple characters know this, although you can [[spoiler:let one of them die in Episode 1 and the other dies in Episode 2]]. This becomes a big plot point in "Long Road Ahead" when [[spoiler: Lilly]] reveals the truth to the group after [[spoiler: murdering Carley/Doug]], although you can (and are encouraged to) tell each member of the group beforehand.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Every episode goes more and more into darker and disturbing material, but Episode 5 takes the cake. [[spoiler:Lee's group gets whittled down, has their only way of escape stolen, and Lee dies after a traumatized Clem has to leave him to turn or shoot him. The general behavior of the group shifts as well, Lee, who can have the most optimistic lines of the game depending on the choices, turns into a determined and angry man who is pessimistic and doesn't care about his own death. Kenny descends into alcoholism and depression, only regaining hope literally minutes before he disappears, presumed dead; Christa has no major signs of her change, but at one point she downs nearly an entire bottle of liquor seemingly not caring that it's bad for her baby; Clementine ends up wandering lonely and depressed over both her parents and Lee's death]]
* DeadHatShot: There's one in Episode 3 [[spoiler:as part of a NonStandardGameOver. If you can't convince Kenny to stop the train then Lee will return alone to the boxcar. He'll see Clementine's hat lying on the floor just before he gets murdered by Zombie Duck.]] [[spoiler:At the end of "Around Every Corner", Lee finds that Clementine has disappeared when he wakes up, and goes into the backyard of the house to look for her; the camera zeroes in on her discarded hat in the foreground. Thankfully, in this case, she's still alive.]]

** [[spoiler: If you help Kenny kill Larry, but spare Danny St. John, Lilly calls you out on your hypocrisy.]]

** [[spoiler:The zombie boy in the attic in Episode 4]].
** [[spoiler:Duck, as well, if you fail to convince Kenny to stop the train in Episode 3]].
** [[spoiler:Also Clementine in a nightmare]].

* UngratefulBastard:
** Even if Lee does a PetTheDog with Larry, and even after he ''saves his life'' getting nitroglycerine for his heart condition, [[spoiler: he still forces Lee back towards the zombies when the group is trying to escape.]]

** [[spoiler:If you save Doug over Carley]], [[TheSmartGuy Doug]] acts like this for saving him for about the whole conversation, [[SubvertedTrope but then]] just chalks it up to "[[SurvivorGuilt that survivor's thing]]".
** [[spoiler: Lilly in Episode 3 if you choose to bring her along after she kills Carley/Doug and especially if you try to have Lee and Clementine leave with her. She repays the favor by stealing the RV, stranding the group by the train.]]

** Bonus monster points if [[spoiler:the player doesn't shout out that it's human meat; when Larry berates Lee for being rude, there's the option of saying "Fuck you. Eat up, Larry.", prompting Larry to state he'd love to ''before eating a slice of human meat.'']]

* VillainOfAnotherStory: The mysterious voice on the radio is only a villain at all because [[spoiler:''Lee's group were the villains of his story'': their theft of his supplies caused his remaining family to leave him and subsequently die, and he came after revenge.]]

** Depending on who arrives, either [[spoiler:Doug's laser pointer or Carley's gun is used to distract Andrew St. John before he can shoot Lee.]]
** Larry's [[spoiler:60 cents are used to unscrew an air conditioner from the wall, in order to create an escape route.]]
** [[spoiler:Lee can notice that a '''white arrow''' in a walker might have been used by the St. Johns, but it unusually doesn't reappear in the plot if you take it. Cue the fence turning on, and a '''white arrow''' hits Mark from further down the fence before the bandits start attacking with '''red''' colored arrows.]]
** When Lee enters the barn, he'll ask about the salt licks. [[spoiler:A couple of scenes later, Kenny kills Larry with one. Just in case the player didn't examine them while in the meat locker]].
** The Multi-tool [[spoiler:is a subversion. When locked in the meat locker, Lee realizes he can use it to unscrew the air-vent, only to find that the St Johns have stolen it]].

* ChildrenAreAWaste: In episode 4, [[spoiler:TheSocialDarwinist inhabitants of the Crawford enclave seem to think so, with their policy of no mouths to feed who cannot provide back for the community. In a case of [[{{Irony}} Darwinian Irony]], the structural exclusion of children and elderly combined with their isolationist policies would lead to them eventually falling apart when its their members are too old to fend for themselves anymore and their population of young and healthy people dwindles. If you watch the camcorder tapes in the nurse's office, you find out that, like much else in the game, someone [[TakeAThirdOption decided two choices wasn't enough.]] A woman who'd gotten pregnant and was faced with the decision of leaving Crawford or having an abortion snapped and stabbed the doctor before running away. He presumably turned and Crawford was destroyed from the inside.]]
* {{Cliffhanger}}: Chapter 4 ends on a doozy of one: [[spoiler: Clementine goes missing and Lee gets ambushed by a walker while searching for her and bitten on the left arm. Lee goes off to look for her - either alone, with some survivors, and maybe ALL of the survivors - and head to Vernon's hideaway thinking he took her, but find it's empty. Just when all seems lost, the walkie springs to life with Clem on the end, who's promptly replaced by her kidnapper. No matter what response you pick, you never hear Lee speak it because he finds himself speechless before the screen cuts to black. What's more, there no preview of the next episode either.]]

** [[spoiler: The people of Crawford. If you believe what Molly, Vernon and Brie say about the place, [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters they]] ''[[LaserGuidedKarma really]]'' [[HaveANiceDeath had it coming]]]].

* BattleInTheRain: [[spoiler: Lee vs. Andrew St. John]] nwar the end of Episode 2.

** Episode 1 ends with the survivors at a Motor Inn, which is pretty safe, and barring [[spoiler: the power going out]], they're fairly set, but a few survivors left and [[spoiler: one dies due to you being unable to save them]], which continues to haunt the characters afterward.
** Episode 2 has the characters finally get food and supplies after almost running out, but [[spoiler: Larry is killed by Kenny in a fit of paranoia, and depending on your choice, damaging your friendship with Kenny due to trying to save Larry, or causing Lilly to hate you by assisting in the murder of her father, along with the death of Mark]].
** In Episode 3, the characters finally make it to Savannah and get some new survivors, but [[spoiler: Carley/Doug, Katjaa, and Duck are dead, Lilly either leaving the group or left on the road, and you find out that Clementine has been talking to someone without Lee or anyone else noticing]].
** [[spoiler: At the end of Episode 5 Clementine is saved and makes it to safety, but Lee has to either be shot in the head by her before he could turn into a Walker or be left behind. Either way, the game doesn't exactly end on a happy note, though it does give off a sense of hope]].

* BookEnds: Lee begins and ends the game [[spoiler: in handcuffs, if you choose to let him turn]]. Also he and Clementine meet each other as she hands him a hammer to kill a zombified babysitter, [[spoiler: and shortly before he dies, Lee hands her a baseball bat to kill a zombified security guard]]. It also starts and ends with Lee [[spoiler: supporting himself on something as he makes his way towards a walker who used to be a cop]]. The very first achievement you get in Episode One is called, " Out of the frying pan...," and the very first achievement you get in Episode 5 is, [[BrickJoke "Into the fire"]].
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted: [[spoiler: Running out of ammo is what can possibly kill Carley near the end of Episode One, when she cannot reach her extra ammo in her purse]]. And used in Episode 2, as the bandits that ambush you early on have numerous arrows, and will use over fifty by the end of the ambush; they don't even have to load them, as soon as one arrow flies out another comes again. Honestly, there are several examples of this trope being played straight ''and'' averted. Episode 1, for example, has Lee loading a police officer's shotgun to kill his reanimated corpse. You're screwed if you miss that shot. Episodes 2 and 4, on the other hand, have moments where Lee has to open fire on groups of bandits/undead closing in on him. You can take as many shots as you like as long as no one reaches you. And averted in Episode 5 when the whole party announces how many bullets they have, and after they've all fired, ''that's it''.

** In "Starved For Help", Kenny assumes Lee knows how to pick locks because he's "well... urban" (i.e. African-American), and Lee (who is a highly-educated college professor) naturally takes offense. Near the end of the next episode, while boosting Clementine over another locked door, Lee comments to himself that Kenny would probably ask him to pick the lock, which "might work now that we've got the time."
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: [[spoiler:In Episode 5, the mysterious man reveals the group's choice to take his supplies from his station wagon killed his wife and daughter, ''meaning they indirectly took two lives and drove a man insane through what they considered finders-keepers.'']]
* ButNowIMustGo: Glenn at the end of Episode 1. This is so he can find his friends in Atlanta. In Episode 3, Lilly will leave the group by [[spoiler:stealing the RV even if you choose not to abandon her on the roadside after she kills Carley/Doug. Kenny comments that she isn't very likely to be able to drive more than 30 miles, as the RV's radiator is worn out and close to overheating.]]. Episode 4 has [[spoiler:Molly]]. This could be out of a desire to not [[spoiler:split the group up]].

** In Episode 1, [[spoiler:The policeman driving Lee dies after being pulled from the cars by walkers off-screen. Lee will have to kill Sandra, Clementine's zombified babysitter. Chet, Shawn's friend, will be alive if you travel in the day, but traveling at night, he'll approach you as a walker. Later at Hershel's farm, walkers will crawl over the barricade-fence and kill Shawn. Lee finds the bodies of his parents and his undead brother outside the pharmacy. No matter what you do, Irene (the girl whom you set out to save) will take Carley's gun and commit suicide. If you choose to save Carley at the end, Doug will be pulled out of the pharmacy by walkers and eaten. If you choose to save Doug, Carley be pulled by the hair by walkers and devoured.]]
** In Episode 2, [[spoiler:Travis will either be left behind and eaten by walkers or will reanimate after dying from a gunshot wound. Similarly, his teacher can also either be left behind or will reanimate from his leg wound. While walking to the St. John farm, the group will see a bandit murder another bandit with a shotgun overkill. Jolene, the mad woman at the camp, will be shot by either Danny or Lee. Mark will have his legs cut off for food by the St. Johns and die from his wounds off-screen. Larry will suffer from a heart-attack in the meat locker, and Kenny will smash his head in with a salt-lick (possibly with Lee's help.) You have the option to kill Danny with a pitchfork in the barn. Brenda St. John will be killed by a reanimated Mark while holding Katjaa hostage. You have the option to kill Andrew St. John, but it's implied that even if you spare him and his brother, they both die in the ensuing walker attack.]]
** In Episode 3, [[spoiler:Lee and Kenny will see a bitten girl being attacked by walkers, and Lee can either MercyKill her or leave her to die to buy him and Kenny time. Most of the Save-Lot bandits will be killed in the attack on the Motor Inn. Depending on whether you save Carley or Doug, they will be killed by Lilly while defending Ben (if you save Carley, it's on purpose, but if you save Doug, it will be an accident.) You find out that Duck was bitten during the attack, and Katjaa will commit suicide before she can MercyKill him. Your or Kenny can shoot Duck instead, or you can leave him.]]
** In Episode 4, [[spoiler:Lee comes across an undead boy in the attic and will either have to MercyKill him or leave the attic and have Christa do it instead. Lee will come across Chuck, who had stayed behind earlier in the episode, dead in the sewer. In a video tape, one of the doctors at Crawford is stabbed in the stomach on-screen, and you'll kill him as a walker later. Brie will be eaten by walkers as the group flees Crawford. Depending on your choice, Lee can drop Ben from the bell tower and kill him.]]
** In Episode 5, [[spoiler:If you saved Ben in Episode 4, he will impale himself on a bar and die off-screen. Kenny sacrifices himself to save either Ben or Christa (after she falls into a building from the ceiling) and is presumed dead. Lee or Clementine will kill the Stranger at the Marsh House. As Lee and Clementine exit, they will see Ed and Diana (Clementine's parents) reanimated on the street. Lee will eventually succumb to his bite from Episode 4 (or possibly his amputation), and will either be left by Clementine to reanimate or shot by Clementine to prevent animation.]]
* ChekhovsArmy: It took a whole Episode for [[spoiler:the walkers from the bridge]] to catch up with you. And they're staying for the final episode.

** The cane that belonged to Lee's dad. A bit of {{Foreshadowing}} and CallBack: The cane once again protects the store, even without its owner.

** Again in Episode 2, [[spoiler:several areas of the dairy's past point to suspicious activity. The bandits shout that "''It ain't right!'' We had a deal!" and that the dairy "Fucked with [them]."; considering they're obviously shouting about the supplies, and there's a large amount of dairy boxes left at the camp Jolene took, it's almost like the problem they're having with the supplies ''wasn't the amount, but what they realized it was''. Also, when first arriving, Andy will reveal people have stayed before when pressed, and trying to head for the barn before fixing the fence will prompt him to anxiously question why you're heading for it.]]

* BaitAndSwitch: Episode 2 is initially set up to make the player believe the ''bandits'' are going to be the villains of Episode 2. They even get featured as prominent villains in the episode "preview" you get upon completing episode 1, with the St. John family featured in the trailer as yet another batch of [[HeroicBystander heroic bystanders]] like the Greenes were. As it turns out, [[spoiler: while the bandits ''are'' assholes, the ''real'' villains of Episode 2 are the St. John brothers and mother themselves]]. And later, depending on what you choose to believe of [[spoiler: the Stranger]]'s story in episode 5, [[spoiler:'''you''' might be the real villain of that episode]].

* AcquittedTooLate: [[spoiler: Ben confesses far, far too late that he was the one stealing supplies for the bandits, after Carley or Doug had paid for this with their lives. Then again, Lilly's behavior didn't exactly make him eager to admit it - especially when she was becoming increasingly unhinged and was intimidating him]].

** Episode 4: [[spoiler: Chuck, and possibly Molly. [[note]] If Molly dies, you get [[NonStandardGameOver an automatic game over]]. The only way Molly can die is if you mess up when she is grabbed by a zombie and you don't have Clementine with you in Crawford. In every other scenario, Molly will either get out of her predicament fine and go with you, or she will be forced to run away, and you won't see her again for the rest of the season. Because of this, Molly's 'death' is non-canonical, and it's unknown if she will be seen again in the next seasons. [[/note]] or Ben depending on your choices]].

* BaitAndSwitch: Episode 2 is initially set up to make the player believe the ''bandits'' are going to be the villains of Episode 2. They even feature as prominent villains in the episode 2 "preview" you get upon completing episode 1, with the St. John family featured in the trailer as yet another batch of [[HeroicBystander heroic bystanders]] like the Greenes were. As it turns out, [[spoiler: while the bandits ''are'' assholes, the ''real'' villains of Episode 2 are the St. John brothers and mother themselves]]. And later, depending on what you choose to believe of the Stranger's story in episode 5, [[spoiler:'''you''' might be the real villain of that episode.]]

** There's a JumpScare later on in Episode 4 when Lee is revisiting the shack in Crawford he used to get over to the garage. A zombie hidden from the player's eyes randomly attacks Lee out of nowhere despite the fact that he probably could've ''smelled'' the zombie the second he walked inside [[spoiler: He gets bitten as a result]].

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Averted, the only black guy in the group is the protagonist. In fact, even if the player gets him killed while playing as him, he's still never the actual first death: the very earliest in the game Lee can die is when he's attacked by a zombie after the police car crashes -- and that's after the walkers kill the officer first, turning him into a zombie. So even if the player get Lee killed right away, he's the ''second'' to die in the whole game and not the ''first''.

** In Episode 1, right when you're about to escape the zombie-infested drugstore, [[spoiler: Larry yells "You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" at you and punches you to the ground, with Kenny barely saving you from the zombies afterwards.]] This is after you risk your life to get Larry the pills for his heart.
** [[spoiler: Ben telling the group that just dying will cause you to become a Walker. Being bitten isn't necessary.]] One of Lee's responses is an appropriate, "God help us."

** The end of Chapter 3 has a doozy, especially since it comes from [[spoiler:Clementine's supposedly busted walkie-talkie.]]

** If you say you don't know who [[spoiler:The Stranger]] is, he jogs your memory by reminding you about [[spoiler:the car and supplies you stole in Episode 2]]...
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Maybelle, the St. John farm's cow, isn't ever brought up again after you find out [[spoiler:the St. John family are a CannibalClan]]. Andre the policeman disappears after dropping Lee and Clem off at the Greene farm at night. In Episode 5 [[spoiler: Molly does not return after leaving the group, but considering that the Savannah is completely overrun, her odds are not good.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Lee gets this a lot, regardless of his choices. [[spoiler:The man who kidnaps Clementine really lets him have it when he arrives at the hotel. It can be pretty hilarious if the player have made an active effort to steer Lee away from heinous acts, as he starts bringing up events there were either more or less out of Lee's control, or very easy to reasonably justify. On the other hand, if the player has been doing stuff like stealing food from the episode 2 station wagon, or stabbing Danny St. John to death with a pitchfork when Danny was already incapacitated and at Lee's mercy, the man chewing Lee out can actually have a point.]]

** Also, CPR won't actually do any good against [[spoiler: a heart attack.]]

[[/folder]]

** [[IWorkAlone Molly]], seems like she'd be more at home in some zombie spin off of ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' or ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' rather than a point and click, the way she traverses the city by roof top and elegantly dances around the Walkers to bury her ice-climbing axe in their craniums.
** Clementine herself, thanks to some lessons in the third episode.

** Whether or not resuscitating [[spoiler: Larry]] would have been successful in ''Starved For Help'', with multiple factors indicating it could have gone either way if you try to save them (such as whether or not [[spoiler: he's]] actually breathing, or if [[spoiler: he's]] already becoming a Walker).

** Episode 1: [[spoiler: Shawn and either Doug or Carley.]]
** Episode 2: [[spoiler: Mark and Larry.]]
** Episode 3: [[spoiler: Doug/Carley, Katjaa, Duck and possibly Lilly. [[note]] No matter what you do, Lilly can't die. She will not be part of the group after she shoots Carley/Doug, but it's unknown if she managed to survive or not after you become separated from her. It is definitely possible that she died not long after the incident, but she could also have survived and might show up in a later season, as there is no way for us to know if she actually made it or not, regardless of which choices were made regarding her place in the group.[[/note]]]]

** [[spoiler:The people of Crawford. If you believe what Molly, Vernon and Brie say about the place, they ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters really]]'' [[LaserGuidedKarma had it coming]]]].

* BaitAndSwitch: Episode 2 is initially set up to make the player believe the ''bandits'' are going to be the villains of Episode 2. They even feature as prominent villains in the episode 2 "preview" you get upon completing episode 1, with the St. John family featured in the trailer as yet another batch of HeroicBystanders like the Greenes were. As it turns out, [[spoiler: while the bandits ''are'' assholes, the ''real'' villains of Episode 2 are the St. John brothers and mother themselves.]] And later, depending on what you choose to believe of the Stranger's story in episode 5, [[spoiler:'''you''' might be the real villain of that episode.]]
* BattleInTheRain: [[spoiler: Lee vs. Andrew St. John]] in Episode 2.

** There's a JumpScare later on in Episode 4 when Lee is revisiting the shack in Crawford he used to get over to the garage. A zombie hidden from the player's eyes randomly attacks Lee out of nowhere despite the fact that he probably could've ''smelled'' the zombie the second he walked inside [[He gets bitten as a result]].

** Used during Episode 2, where if you kill the BigBad(s) the MoralityPet will be scared of you, and if you [[spoiler: try to save Larry, your former best friend (assuming certain choices) will throw a hissy fit and hate you.]] And if you want to please Clementine, you better not take that delicious food in that car.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''The Walking Dead''. Plenty of examples found in the game, including a zombie infectee, one of the older survivors, an unnamed couple found dead in bed... [[JustifiedTrope justified]], however, because if someone ''chooses'' to die, they can at least blow their brains out and thus not come back as a walker. Dying at the hands of the walkers, on the other hand, is not only unpleasant but all but guarantees that the person will come back as a walker and possibly kill other people. [[spoiler: Clementine can kill Lee at the end if the player chooses.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Depending on how you choose to interact with them, Lilly and Carley could potentially be implied romantic interests with Lee. With Lilly being a jaded and insecure Betty, and Carley being the slightly more glamorous city girl Veronica. [[spoiler: Nothing comes of this in either case]].

** Also used by [[spoiler: Kenny when Katjaa kills herself, assuming he's there with her.]]

** Episode 1 ends with the survivors at a Motor Inn, which is pretty safe, and barring [[spoiler:the power going out]], they're fairly set, but a few survivors left and [[spoiler: one dies due to you being unable to save them]], which continues to haunt the characters afterward.
** Episode 2 has the characters finally get food and supplies after almost running out, but [[spoiler: Larry was killed by Kenny in a fit of paranoia, and depending on your choice, damaging your friendship with Kenny due to trying to save Larry, or causing Lilly to hate you by assisting in the murder of her father, along with the death of Mark]].

** [[spoiler: At the end of Episode 5 Clementine is saved and makes it to safety, but Lee had to either be shot in the head by her before he could turn into a Walker or be left behind. Either way, the game doesn't exactly end on a happy note, though it does give off a sense of hope]] .

** In Episode Four of Chapter One, this is also the case for [[spoiler: Kenny]] who jumps down to help [[spoiler: either Ben or Christa]] depending on your [[StoryBranching branching paths]]. Said person kills them off screen, and then Lee climbs back up and the camera loses track, and we don't see the character again.
** [[spoiler:The game ends with Clementine wandering through a field and seeing two people on a hill who ''might'' be Christa and Omid, and the fate of Vernon's group is never addressed.]] [[spoiler:Although part of Vernon's group is reintroduced in ''400 Days'', but not the man himself and a few others.]]
* BookEnds: Lee begins and ends the game [[spoiler:in handcuffs, if you choose to let him turn.]] Also he and Clementine meet each other as she hands him a hammer to kill a zombified babysitter, [[spoiler:and shortly before he dies, Lee hands her a baseball bat to kill a zombified security guard]]. It also starts and ends with Lee [[spoiler:supporting himself on something as he makes his way towards a walker who used to be a cop.]] The very first achievement you get in Episode One is called, " Out of the frying pan...," and the very first achievement you get in Episode Five is, [[BrickJoke "Into the fire."]]
* BottomlessMagazines: Averted: [[spoiler:Running out of ammo is what can possibly kill Carley near the end of Episode One, when she cannot reach her extra ammo in her purse.]] And used in Episode 2, as the bandits that ambush you early on have numerous arrows, and will use over fifty by the end of the ambush; they don't even have to load them, as soon as one arrow flies out another comes again. Honestly, there are several examples of this trope being played straight ''and'' averted. Episode 1, for example, has Lee loading a police officer's shotgun to kill his reanimated corpse. You're screwed if you miss that shot. Episodes 2 and 4, on the other hand, have moments where Lee has to open fire on groups of bandits/undead closing in on him. You can take as many shots as you like as long as no one reaches you. And averted in Episode 5 when the whole party announces how many bullets they have, and after they've all fired, ''that's it''.
* BreakTheCutie: In Episode 4 [[spoiler:high-schooler Ben feels so guilty and useless ''he asks you to let him die''.]] And at the end of Episode 5 [[spoiler:Clementine must either leave Lee, her protector, handcuffed to a radiator to turn into a walker, or put a bullet in his head to save him the fate.]]
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Talking to Kenny five times in the bedroom right before [[spoiler:his or Ben's death]] will net you a cutscene of Lee extolling the virtues of a Telltale employee's mustache.

->'''Lee:''' Hey, you're strong, Clem. You...you can do anything.\\
'''Clementine:''' But...I'm little.\\

-->-- "No Time Left"

* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewer you see in "Around Every Corner". It leads to [[spoiler: a hospital morgue housing a group of cancer survivors who are important characters in the episode]].

* AdaptationDistillation: The game touches upon almost every major core theme of the comic, such as teamwork, distrust, and the difficult choices that come with the disaster, in the span of five (six, if you count 400 Days) episodes.

** It's quickly apparent in "No Time Left" that losing his wife and children has driven [[spoiler: the Stranger]] mad.

** Episode 4: [[spoiler: Chuck, and possibly Molly. [[note]] If Molly dies, you get an automatic game over. The only way Molly can die is if you mess up when she is grabbed by a zombie and you don't have Clementine with you in Crawford. In every other scenario, Molly will either get out of her predicament fine and go with you, or she will be forced to run away, and you won't see her again for the rest of the season. Because of this, Molly's 'death' is non-canonical, and it's unknown if she will be seen again in the next seasons. [[/note]] or Ben depending on your choices]]
** Episode 5: [[spoiler: Lee and the Stranger. Ben will also die if he hasn't already.]]

** [[spoiler: Larry in episode 2, considering he left you for dead to a horde of Walkers in Episode 1 (''even after you saved his life by getting him medicine for his heart condition''). Lilly herself becomes this in Episode 3 after she shoots Carley or Doug]].

** [[spoiler:The people of Crawford. If you believe what Molly, Vernon and Brie say about the place, they ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters really]]'' had it coming.]]
* ArcWords: ''In the end, family's all that matters.''

* BaitAndSwitch: Episode 2 is initially set up to make the player believe the ''bandits'' are going to be the villains of episode 2. They even feature as prominent villains in the episode 2 "preview" you get upon completing episode 1, with the St. John family featured in the trailer as yet another batch of heroic bystanders like the Greenes were. As it turns out, [[spoiler: while the bandits ''are'' assholes, the ''real'' villains of episode 2 are the St. John brothers and mother themselves.]] And later, depending on what you choose to believe of the Stranger's story in episode 5, [[spoiler:''you'' might be the real villain of that episode.]]

** Especially bad in the sewer level during episode 4, where Lee can walk straight into walkers the player doesn't see because of the camera angle. The worst is when the camera angle hides that there is one ''holding on to his foot'', instead looking like it's just stuck in a grate.
** There's a JumpScare later on in episode 4 when Lee is revisiting the shack in Crawford he used to get over to the garage. A zombie hidden from the player's eyes randomly attacks Lee out of nowhere despite the fact that he probably could've ''smelled'' the zombie the second he walked inside.
** Also in episode 4, there is a [[spoiler: hidden boat]] in the unlocked shed behind the house the team uses for shelter in Savannah, and no one seems to think to look inside when they first arrive for no other reason than the door is facing away from the camera. Of course, it wouldn't have helped them get through the locked back door, but it seems odd that no one, especially Lee, would think to peek inside, considering Lee eventually has to [[spoiler: dig up a rotting dog carcass]] to get inside the house. They need tools to get through the door, right? What sort of things do you keep in a shed? Obviously, [[spoiler: only a boat, never tools]].

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''The Walking Dead''. Plenty of examples found in the game, including a zombie infectee, one of the older survivors, an unnamed couple found dead in bed... [[JustifiedTrope justified]], however, because if someone ''chooses'' to die, they can at least blow their brains out and thus not come back as a walker. Dying at the hands of the walkers, on the other hand, is not only unpleasant but all but guarantees that the person will come back as a walker and possibly kill other people. [[spoiler:Clementine can kill Lee at the end if the player chooses.]]
* BettyAndVeronica: Depending on how you choose to interact with them, Lilly and Carly could potentially be implied romantic interests with Lee. With Lilly being a jaded and insecure Betty, and Carly being the slightly more glamorous city girl Veronica. [[spoiler: Nothing comes of this in either case.]]

** Understandably used by Lilly when [[spoiler:her dad's face is crushed right in front of her.]]

** Episode 1 ends with the survivors at a Motor Inn, which is pretty safe, and barring [[spoiler:the power going out]], they're fairly set, but a few survivors left and [[spoiler:one dies due to you being unable to save them]], which continues to haunt the characters afterward.
** Episode 2 has the characters finally get food and supplies after almost running out, but [[spoiler:Larry was killed by Kenny in a fit of paranoia, and depending on your choice, damaging your friendship with Kenny due to trying to save Larry, or causing Lilly to hate you by assisting in the murder of her father, along with the death of Mark]].
** In Episode 3, the characters finally make it to Savannah and get some new survivors, but [[spoiler:Carley/Doug, Katjaa, and Duck are dead, Lilly either leaving the group or left on the road, and you find out that Clementine has been talking to someone without Lee or anyone else noticing]].
** [[spoiler:At the end of Episode 5 Clementine is saved and makes it to safety, but Lee had to either be shot in the head by her before he could turn into a Walker or be left behind. Either way, the game doesn't exactly end on a happy note, though it does give off a sense of hope.]]

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: The chat with [[spoiler: the man who kidnapped Clementine]] in episode 5 happens right after you [[spoiler: fight your way through a horde of walkers armed with a shard of glass and a meat cleaver.]] [[spoiler: Or just the meat cleaver, if you took off Lee's arm.]]

** Whether or not resuscitating [[spoiler: Larry]] would have been successful in "Starved For Help", with multiple factors indicating it could have gone either way if you try to save them (such as whether or not they're actually breathing, or if they're already becoming a Walker).
** In "No Time Left", the player is given the option to [[spoiler: cut off Lee's arm]] to stop, if not slow down, the infection from a Walker bite. Whether or not it worked is hard to tell, as either [[spoiler:Lee is still dying from the infection, or the blood loss from his arm is too severe to recover from]].

** Episode 4: [[spoiler: Chuck, and possibly Molly. [[note]]If Molly dies, you get an automatic game over. The only way Molly can die is if you mess up when she is grabbed by a zombie and you don't have Clementine with you in Crawford. In every other scenario, Molly will either get out of her predicament fine and go with you, or she will be forced to run away, and you won't see her again for the rest of the season. Because of this, Molly's 'death' is non-canonical, and it's unknown if she will be seen again in the next seasons. [[/note]] or Ben depending on your choices]]

** [[spoiler: Lilly]] also becomes this after [[spoiler: she shoots Carley or Doug]] in "Long Road Ahead".

* ArcWords: "In the end, family's all that matters."

* BattleInTheRain: [[spoiler:Lee vs. Andrew St. John]] in episode 2.

** Also in episode 3, three zombies in [[spoiler: the abandoned railway station]] appear from seemingly nowhere. Given the size of the room, it seems strange that none of them were visible from the door. The Railway station ''was'' covered in HollywoodDarkness but the point still stands.

** Also in episode 4, there is a [[spoiler: hidden boat]] in the unlocked shed behind the house the team uses for shelter in Savannah, and no one seems to think to look inside when they first arrive for no other reason than the door is facing away from the camera. Of course, it wouldn't have helped them get through the locked back door, but it seems odd that no one, especially Lee, would think to peek inside, considering Lee eventually has to [[spoiler: dig up a rotting dog carcass]] to get inside the house. They need tools to get through the door, right? What sort of things do you keep in a shed? Obviously, [[spoiler:only a boat, never tools]].

** Used during Episode 2, where if you kill the BigBad(s) the MoralityPet will be scared of you, and if you [[spoiler:try to save Larry, your former best friend (assuming certain choices) will throw a hissy fit and hate you.]] And if you want to please Clementine, you better not take that delicious food in that car.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''The Walking Dead''. Plenty of examples found in the game, including a zombie infectee, one of the older survivors, an unnamed couple found dead in bed...[[JustifiedTrope justified]], however, because if someone ''chooses'' to die, they can at least blow their brains out and thus not come back as a walker. Dying at the hands of the walkers, on the other hand, is not only unpleasant but all but guarantees that the person will come back as a walker and possibly kill other people. [[spoiler:Clementine can kill Lee at the end if the player chooses.]]

* AcquittedTooLate: [[spoiler: Ben confesses far, far too late that he was the one stealing supplies for the bandits, after Carley or Doug had paid for this with their lives. Then again, Lilly's behavior didn't exactly make him eager to admit it - especially when she was becoming increasingly unhinged and was intimidating him.]]

* AdultFear: In Episode 3, when [[spoiler:Duck is bitten, Kenny refuses to believe his son will die, Katjaa realizes that her medical knowledge cannot save their son and Lee has a nightmare about the same thing happening to Clementine]]. Then Episode 4 ends with [[spoiler:Clementine kidnapped and Lee bitten (which can be considered a terminal disease)]].
** It's quickly apparent in "No Time Left" that losing his wife and children has driven the Stranger mad.

** Whether or not resuscitating [[spoiler:Larry]] would have been successful in "Starved For Help", with multiple factors indicating it could have gone either way if you try to save them (such as whether or not they're actually breathing, or if they're already becoming a Walker).
** In "No Time Left", the player is given the option to [[spoiler:cut off Lee's arm]] to stop, if not slow down, the infection from a Walker bite. Whether or not it worked is hard to tell, as either [[spoiler:Lee is still dying from the infection, or the blood loss from his arm is too severe to recover from]].
* AnArmAndALeg: The only way to free David from the bear trap is cut off his leg. Can also happen to [[spoiler:Lee, with his bitten arm,]] in episode 5 depending on your choices. The depressing thing is that [[spoiler: this does absolutely nothing to halt the inevitable in either case.]]

** Episode 1: [[spoiler:Shawn and either Doug or Carley.]]
** Episode 2: [[spoiler:Mark and Larry.]]
** Episode 3: [[spoiler:Doug/Carley, Katjaa, Duck and possibly Lilly. [[note]] No matter what you do, Lilly can't die. She will not be part of the group after she shoots Carley/Doug, but it's unknown if she managed to survive or not after you become separated from her. It is definitely possible that she died not long after the incident, but she could also have survived and might show up in a later season, as there is no way for us to know if she actually made it or not, regardless of which choices were made regarding her place in the group.[[/note]]]]
** Episode 4: [[spoiler:Chuck, and possibly Molly. [[note]]If Molly dies, you get an automatic game over. The only way Molly can die is if you mess up when she is grabbed by a zombie and you don't have Clementine with you in Crawford. In every other scenario, Molly will either get out of her predicament fine and go with you, or she will be forced to run away, and you won't see her again for the rest of the season. Because of this, Molly's 'death' is non-canonical, and it's unknown if she will be seen again in the next seasons. [[/note]] or Ben depending on your choices]]
** Episode 5: [[spoiler:Lee and the Stranger. Ben will also die if he hasn't already.]]

** [[spoiler:The St Johns]] for Episode 2.

** [[spoiler:The Stranger]] for Episodes 4 and 5.

** [[spoiler: Larry in episode 2, considering he left you for dead to a horde of Walkers in Episode 1 (''even after you saved his life by getting him medicine for his heart condition''). Lilly herself becomes this in Episode 3 after she shoots Carley or Doug.]]

->''"Hey, you're strong, Clem. You...you can do anything."''
-->-- '''Lee'''
->''"But...I'm little."''
-->-- '''Clementine'''
->''"Doesn't mean nothing. You're gonna see bad stuff. But it's okay."''
-->-- '''Lee''', "No Time Left"

---> '''Carley:''' You're never going to let me [[NeverLiveItDown live that one down]], are you?

* GondorCallsForAid: When [[spoiler:Lee gets bitten by a walker and Clementine gets kidnapped by the Stranger]] in Episode 4, Lee goes looking for her. Your past relationship with the survivors determines who joins you. If you play your cards right, you can end up with ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome every]]'' [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming group member choosing to go with him]], [[spoiler:[[TrueCompanions even if you choose to reveal the bite. In fact, revealing it actually increases the likelihood of Omid and Christa going with you]]]].

** One also has to wonder why Lee changes his outfit from thick, layered shirts underneath a leather jacket to a light-blue collared shirt over a sweater, considering it's mentioned that winter is approaching in about a month as of Episode 3. It can double as a bit of Fridge Hypocrisy if [[spoiler: Lee decides to join the group in looting the Stranger's station wagon in Episode 2, since doing so will have him give Clementine a hoodie because it's getting colder out.]] Similarly, one might even have a case of FridgeLogic after thinking back on this. Oh, but lo and behold, does this change in attire [[spoiler: [[IncrediblyLamePun take a bite out]] of him at the end of Episode 4.]]

* MoralityPet: The [[WordOfGod developers purposely made Clementine this]] for Lee. Though acting a certain way can make Clementine a MoralityChain, and Lee a BrokenPedestal.

* ThemeTuneCameo: Despite allegedly being based on the ''comic'' and not the ''television series'', the series' mournful theme will pop up at [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]] and [[TearJerker tearjerker]] scenes.