History VideoGame / TheWalkingDeadSeasonOne

** This is actually [[PlayedWith 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.

** 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: [[{{Squick}}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]].

* BlinkAndYouMissIt: [[spoiler: In ''Starved For Help'' if you help Lilly try to revive Larry; you can see his mouth moving and just after the salt lick connects to his head, you can quickly hear a walker growl as Larry's final breath. This strongly indicates that Kenny was ''right'', Larry's heart attack was fatal and the brain needed to be destoyed before he could reanimate as a walker.]]

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

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

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: Kenny does work on vehicles, and other characters will fight zombies from time to time, but it often seems like the largest hordes are left for Lee. There are some puzzles for him too, but that could be justified from the fact that he was a professor before the apocalypse, so he is probably [[GeniusBruiser the smartest]], even if he mostly knew about history and killing Walkers.
** "'''Saving'''" [[spoiler: '''Irene]]:''' Carley shoots and [[TheCameo Glenn helps, but the majority of thinking and zombie killing is done by Lee.
** '''Escaping [[spoiler: the meat locker:''' Larry bangs on the door. Kenny examines the walls for weak points. Lilly [[VomitIndiscretionShot vomits]]. Lee unscrews the ventilation shaft and helps Clementine out]].
** '''Killing [[spoiler: The St. Johns:''' Lee takes care of both brothers. Kenny or Lilly ''will'' help defeat Danny, but if Lee didn't save Larry earlier, then ''every member of the group'' just stands there while Lee almost dies fighting Andrew. It could be because they might see it as his fight, but, as said, he almost ''died'']]!

** '''Getting [[spoiler: the train]] working:''' Lee does everything. Kenny even sits in the driver's seat, yet lets him activate it! At least Kenny took the job of driving it.
** '''Getting the gas tanker out of the way:''' Lee and Clementine walk all the way to that building, unlock it, fight zombies, and get the blowtorch. Christa calls them out on going alone, but Lee even announced what he was going to do before they went in. It's a mystery why no one came earlier.
** '''Taking [[spoiler: supplies from Crawford:''' Lee had to deal with the battery ''and'' the medicine, and later is the one who slows down the horde while the others escape]].

** Really, [[spoiler:the Stranger]] had to have been holding this, for [[spoiler:leaving the station wagon the way it was in Episode 2. One, he left it completely alone in the middle of the night, in an area filled with zombies and bandits. Did he really expect anyone to make a different assumption than "being dead" or "ran for the lives"? And two, look at how he left it: The keys were in the ignition, the door was wide open, the car lights were on, and the food was completely uncovered. It would be both impossible to miss and really easy to break into, and the logical conclusion would be that the owners died or at least went missing.]]

** Really, [[spoiler:the Stranger]] had to have been holding this, for [[spoiler:leaving the station wagon the way it was in Episode 2. One, he left it completely alone in the middle of the night, in an area filled with zombies and bandits. Did he really expect anyone to make a different assumption than "being dead" or "ran for the lives"? And two, look at how he left it: The keys were in the ignition, the door was wide open, the car lights were on, and the food was completely uncovered. It would be both impossible to miss and really easy to break into, and the logical conclusion would be that the owners dead or at least went missing.]]

* 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 children]]. Okay, we get it, [[spoiler: he]]'s pissed about that, but [[spoiler: he]] did a pretty shitty job [[spoiler: ''making the fucking thing '''not''' look abandoned'']]. Two points in particular:
** One: [[spoiler: Alright, there was no one at the car, but that proves nothing, right? Except he left it completely alone in the middle of the night, in an area filled with zombies and bandits. Did he really expect anyone to make a different assumption than "being dead" or "ran for the lives"]]?
** Two: [[spoiler: Next, and more importantly, is ''how'' he left it. The keys were in the ignition, the door was wide open, the lights were on in the car (basically a gigantic "Hey, look over here!"), and the food was blatantly uncovered. No intelligent person in this universe, even if they were already leaving their "dwelling" (for lack of a better term) in the pitch-black night, would do so much to make their car both impossible to miss, so easy to break into, and (this can't be stressed enough) so very, very '''''abandoned.''''' Really, anyone would have thought the owners gone or dead (possibly from being TooDumbToLive)]].
** 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 [[spoiler: 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 [[spoiler: the Stranger 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]]. A 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.
** In the first episode, the police officer takes his eyes off the highway they're on to look at Lee (who was sitting in the driver's side back seat) while saying something to him.

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/256px-The_Walking_Dead_Telltale_Logo_1209.png]]

* StabTheScorpion: [[spoiler: Larry does one to Lee when the group is leaving the pharmacy]].

** Kenny says this about Larry, in Episode 1: "[[spoiler: ''I'm gonna kill him, Kat'']]". He does so in Episode 2.

** If Lee tries to stay neutral [[RunningGag at the start of Episode 2]] between Kenny and Lily, Kenny aggressively warns him that he will eventually have to pick a side. [[spoiler: [[TemptingFate Guess what you have to do in the meat locker scene]]]].

* NonstandardGameOver: If you let Clementine die at the end of Episode 1, [[HeroicBSOD Lee stares in shock]] [[https://youtu.be/yi3vCp8_TyU while zombies attack him]].

** Fast-forward to the [[Videogame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonTwo second season]], [[spoiler: the cabin group [[PassingTheTorch Clementine]]]] falls in with calls them ''Lurkers''.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead''. So plenty of examples can be found in the game; including a [[ZombieInfectee zombie infectee]], one of the older survivors, [[TogetherInDeath an unnamed couple found]] [[DrivenToSuicide dead in bed]]...

* CruelMercy: You can indulge in this at the end of Episode 2 by [[spoiler: making Andrew the last living St. John, tell him his mother and brother are both dead, beat the crap out of him and then leave him screaming in the mud]].
--> '''[[spoiler: Andrew]]: ''' Get back here and [[DeathSeeker finish this]]! ''(...)'' '''[[SayMyName LEEEE]]!'''

** The general behavior of the group shifts as well. [[spoiler: Lee, who can have the most optimistic lines of the game depending on your choices, turns into a determined and angry man who's 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 unborn child; and Clementine ends up wandering lonely and depressed over both her parents and Lee's death]].

** In Episode 1, ''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 spare.

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

** If you watch the traffic while in the police car, you might spot Kenny's car or [[spoiler: the.[[BigBad Stranger]]'s car]].

* GoryDiscretionShot: Normally, the series [[AvertedTrope averts this]]. But in Episode 3, [[spoiler: when Lee or Kenny is forced to [[MercyKill shoot Duck dead]], you don't see the results of the gunshot. But Lee and Kenny certainly do]]...

--> '''[[spoiler: Andrew]]: ''' Get back here and [[DeathSeeker finish this]]! ''(...)'' [[SayMyName LEEEE]]!

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Lee [[spoiler: killed a state senator he caught in bed with [[YourCheatingHeart 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) [[EveryoneKnewAlready tell each member of the group beforehand]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: The game deconstructs just how screwed a normal person would be if the government disappeared and zombies and crazy people started turning up all over the place. You're more likely to die getting everyone else killed then killing a horde of zombies. [[TheMillstone Ben]] may be counted since many fans agree that he is the most realistic.

** In Episode 1, ''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 4, ''Around Every Corner'', [[spoiler: when Ben is grabbed by a zombified Crawford Oberson who had been hung from the bell and Lee saves him from it, [[DeathSeeker Ben]] [[MercyKill wants Lee to let him go]] because of all the trouble he caused. If Lee chooses to let him go, Ben will drop down the tower and break his legs while nearby Walkers will devour him]].

** If you watch the traffic while in the police car, you might spot Kenny's car or [[spoiler: [[BigBad the Stranger]]'s car]].

** If Lee tries to stay neutral at the start of Episode 2 between Kenny and Lily, Kenny aggressively warns him that he will eventually have to pick a side. [[spoiler: [[TemptingFate Guess what you have to do in the meat locker scene]]]].

** [[RunningGag 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, [[IAmAHumanitarian but what they realized it was]]''. Also, when first arriving, Andrew 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]].

* 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 [[VideoGameCaringPotential past]] [[RelationshipValues 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: even if you choose to [[InternalReveal reveal your bite]]. In fact, revealing it actually increases the likelihood of [[TrueConpanions Omid and Christa going with you]]]].

** In the end, [[spoiler: the Stranger is just another survivor who lost everything, and gives sympathetic reasons for his attitude toward you]]. But by this point, [[spoiler: he]] ''is'' completely fucking [[AxCrazy insane]].

** [[spoiler: On a much larger scale with Crawford. The very system they set up to ensure their survival instead ensured their own downfall]].

** Episode 5 uses this to [[spoiler: trip up players [[AllThereInTheManual with some knowledge of the overall Walking Dead canon]]. Lee can have his bitten arm amputated, and others ''have'' actually survived a bite this way. Surely our hero will be all right! ...[[SubvertedTrope no]]. [[DownerEnding No]], [[MercyKill he]] [[TheHeroDies won't]]]]. Oh yeah, and [[spoiler: [[AllForNothing the boat gets taken by the cancer survivor's group that Lee befriended in the sewers]]]].

** [[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.

* AnArmAndALeg: The only way to free Mr. Parker from the bear trap is by cutting 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]].

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Larry in Episode 2, considering he left you for dead to a horde of Walkers in Episode 1 (''[[UngreatefulBastard even after you saved his life by getting him medicine for his heart condition]]'')]].
** [[spoiler: Lilly]] can also become this after [[spoiler: she shoots Carley or Doug]] in ''Long Road Ahead''.

* BearTrap: In Episode 2, Lee comes upon Ben and Travis trying to free their teacher Mr. Parker from one that's been modified to trap humans, and later in the episode Lee and Kenny find another one in [[spoiler: the St. John family's abattoir]].

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead''. So a doozy of examples can be found in the game, including a [[ZombieInfectee zombie infectee]], one of the older survivors, [[TogetherInDeath an unnamed couple found]] [[DrivenToSuicide dead in bed]]...

** In ''Around Every Corner'', [[spoiler: Lee comes across an undead boy in the attic and will either have to off him or leave the attic and have Christa doing it instead. Lee will come across [[CoolOldGuy Chuck]], who had stayed behind earlier in the episode, [[BetterToDieTanBeKilled 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. [[MauveShirt Brie]] will be eaten by Walkers as the group flees Crawford. Depending on your choice, Lee can drop Ben from the bell tower and [[EatenAlive to his death]]]].

* CruelMercy: You can indulge in this at the end of Episode 2 by [[spoiler: making Andrew the only remaining St. John, telling him his mother and brother are both dead, beat the crap out of him and then leave him screaming in the mud]].
--> '''[[spoiler: Andrew]]: ''' Get back here and finish this! [[SayMyName LEEEE]]...!

** The general behavior of the group shifts as well. [[spoiler: Lee, who can have the most optimistic lines of the game depending on your 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 unborn child; and Clementine ends up wandering lonely and depressed over both her parents and Lee's death]].

* {{Deconstruction}}: The game deconstructs just how screwed a normal person would be if the government disappeared and zombies and crazy people started turning up all over the place. You're more likely to die getting everyone else killed then killing a horde of zombies. Ben may be counted since many fans agree that he is the most realistic.

** During the mansion attack in Episode 5, everyone says how many bullets are left in their guns. [[spoiler: If you fire all but one, you can give it to Kenny when he tries to help Ben ([[StoryBranching if he survived the previous episode]]) after his fall, so he can MercyKill Ben and (allegedly) himself. Otherwise he will only have the one bullet from the gun taken from a dead couple found just before]].

* DogFoodDiet: If Lee examines the dog food bag in ''Around Every Corner'', he'll declare that he hopes he's never hungry enough that it looks appetizing and later speculates [[spoiler: the boy in the attic]] may have been eating dog food out of desperation.

** [[spoiler: The [[BigBad Stranger]]]] dark brown/reddish brown.
** Also two minor characters [[spoiler: who are [[RedShirt killed off shortly]] after they're introduced]] also have color-coded subtitles: The [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie unnamed police officer]] is light blue, and [[spoiler: [[DrivenToSuicide Irene]]]] is dark pink.
** [[spoiler: Other short-lived characters use the same white font as Lee. For instance,[[NiceGuy Mark]]. [[MauveShirt Don't get too attached to these people]]]].

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Glenn, when confronting the bitten woman at the inn.

* CruelMercy: You can indulge in this at the end of Episode 2 if they [[spoiler: leave Andrew the only remaining St. John, tell him his mother and brother are both dead, beat the crap out of him and then leave him screaming in the mud]].
--> '''[[spoiler: Andrew]]: ''' Get back here and finish this [[SayMyName Leeee]]!

** Episode 5: [[spoiler: Lee and the Stranger. Ben will also die if he hasn't already]].
* [[ArcVillain Arc Villains]]:[[spoiler: The St. Johns]] for Episode 2.

** [[spoiler: [[BigBad The Stranger]]]] is reddish brown/dark brown.

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

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Vernon's group steals Lee's boat and escape, and while they did go off to save Clementine, and would not end [[KillEmAll up needing the boat anyway]], Vernon still knew they were trapped in a walker horde with a little girl and a heavily injured man]]. However, it's implied that [[spoiler: the boat had only a small amount of fuel, plus the group consists of elderly cancer survivors with no weapons except for one gun, so their chances of survival are pretty slim even if they make it to land]]. [[note]] [[Subverted Subverted expectations]] in ''400 Days''. You find what remains of the cancer survivors group, and it's strongly implied that Vernon's decision to steal the boat from Lee's group caused the group to fracture over the decision... with Vernon noticeably missing. [[/note]]

* LazyArtist: If Lee saves [[spoiler: Carley]] in Episode 1, the Walker version of David has a gap in his head suggesting that he gets an axe in it when he's dead, which does happen in another run, but he gets shot in the head in a [[spoiler: Carley run]].

** '''Ben'''. The most useful thing he ever does in the game is informing you that you can turn regardless of bites.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Done seriously [[spoiler: in Episode 5; when the balcony collapses, Ben falls about 30 feet onto a metal frame and states he thinks he damaged his leg, but he should be okay. The shock from the fall helps hide the fact that he's actually been [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaled through the chest]]. He doesn't register that until he can see it]].

** In the season finale, ''No Time Left'':

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

* NotSoDifferent: Kenny and Larry. Both are unreasonable, violent and [[PapaWolf overprotective parenta
s]]. Larry, however, is an unrepentant JerkAss. What Kenny becomes will depend on Lee's choices.

* OffstageVillainy: [[spoiler: The people of Crawford had decided to create a [[SocialDarwinist Darwinian]] 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]].

** Depending [[FromACertainPointOfView on your point of view]] you can be said to do this to the [[spoiler: St. John brothers in Episode 2]]. True to the [[ArcVillain boss torch]] being [[PassingTheTorch handed down]] in Episode 5, [[the Stranger runs through the same vein as well]].

*** [[spoiler: Assuming he's still alive at this point, it happens to an impaled Ben; Kenny, not wanting him to be torn to shreds, uses his last bullet on him]].

** Second, [[spoiler: his not confessing to the paranoid Lilly about his guilt winds up in getting an innocent person killed]].

** In Episode 4, [[spoiler: he removes an axe ''keeping zombies out'' from a doorway so he can use it to open another door (which also gets Brie killed)]]. TooDumbToLive barely begins to ''describe'' it, but lord knows he tries...
** Then, [[spoiler: proceeds to tell Kenny about being the one trading supplies as Walkers try to take down the door, when it is quite clear this will cause Kenny to be furious and cause a crisis amongst the survivors in a critical moment]].

--> '''Lee:''' So, um... uhh...

* MythologyGag: Lee and Clementine sleep in [[TheCameo 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 zombified family members. Including [[TheCameo Shawn]], whom you fail to save]].

* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Lee mournfully utters a variation of this ("''No one was getting out of there''"). [[spoiler: Kenny seemingly sacrifices himself trying to save Ben ([[StoryBranching or Christa]]) 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, it's understandable he would think as much. Sure enough, though, Kenny survives and reappears in Season Two without any explanation except for he "[[NoodleIncident 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.

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

* OnTheNext: Each episode ends with a trailer for the next chapter.
** Except for Episode 4, which just shows the game's title and the title for the final episode.

* 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]].

** ''No Time Left'': It's not an achievement, but it's still a [[{{Pun}} 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!]]

-->'''Kenny:''' ''No one'' gets eaten again today. [[spoiler: ''(If you've been loyal.)'']] "[[spoiler:''Especially'' a good friend]]."

** 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 [[BigBad Stranger]] sneaking up on Lee]].

** Except for the end of Episode 4, which just shows the game's title and the title for the final episode.

* PoorlyTimedConfession: In Episode 4, Ben finally decides to tell Kenny about [[spoiler: his dealings with the bandits which led to the deaths of Katjaa and Duck]] while Walkers, that were accidentally let in thanks to [[TheMillstone 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 [[ShootTheDog let him die]]]].

** This is most visible with Kenny. If you've consistently got his back, he's got yours. If you don't, he'll hesitate to help Lee during certain violent action sequences and come off as useless because he's not willing to risk himself for you in the heat of the moment.
** [[spoiler: Subverted with [[TheUnfettered Lilly]]. Whereas Kenny '''WILL''' follow you to hell and back provided you have his back, Lilly [[UngaratefulBitch will still sell you out as a murderer to the group and try to bring you down with her]], [[UngratefulBitch even if you sided with her and Larry 100% of the time]]]].

** PlayedStraight with some of [[NonStandardGameOver Lee's death scenes]], with are almost humorously anticlimactic.

** "[[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland You Fight Like A Dairy Farmer]]".
** ''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!]]

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: It's ''The Walking Dead''. Plenty of examples can be found in the game, including a [[ZombieInfectee zombie infectee]], one of the older survivors, [[TogetherInDeath an unnamed couple found]] [[DrivenToSuicide dead in bed]]...

** This is actually [[PlayedWith 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.

** In [[CallForward Season Two]], [[spoiler: the cabin group Clementine]] falls in with calls them ''Lurkers''.

* OffstageVillainy: [[spoiler: The people of Crawford had decided 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]].

* 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 children]]. Okay, we get it, [[spoiler: he]]'s pissed about that, but [[spoiler: he]] did a pretty shitty job [[spoiler: ''making the fucking thing '''not''' look abandoned'']]. Two points in particular:

** '''Two:''' [[spoiler: Next, and more importantly, is ''how'' he left it. The keys were in the ignition, the door was wide open, the lights were on in the car (basically a gigantic "Hey, look over here!"), and the food was blatantly uncovered. No intelligent person in this universe, even if they were already leaving their "dwelling" (for lack of a better term) in the pitch-black night, would do so much to make their car both impossible to miss, so easy to break into, and (this can't be stressed enough) so very, very '''''abandoned'''''. Really, anyone would have thought the owners gone or dead (possibly from being TooDumbToLive)]].

* InterfaceSpoiler: {{Downplayed}}. Some of the story messages are quite relevant, but others turn out to be ultimately meaningless, and a few actions with consequences further down the road don't result in one. It doesn't take long to realize that they are very likely to be vague>[[{{Foreshadowing foreshadowing]] at best or deliberate misdirections at worst than spoil the plot.
** [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope 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 all the more jarring]]. In Episode 5, [[spoiler: almost all of the "[Character] will remember that" messages [[DoubleSubverted double subvert]] this when Lee explains his actions/choices]].

* JerkAss: Of course, there is the option to play Lee as one.

** Kenny is either [[spoiler: a JerkAss or a NiceGuy depending on whether you're usually on his side or Lilly's. But he turns out to be right in Episode 3 when he keeps saying they need to leave the Motor Inn and that their stay there can't last forever; they ''do'' in fact get run out later by bandits. And even in Episode 2, he was absolutely right to be suspicious of the St. Johns and eventually want to leave and/or find out what they're up to— they were [[CannibalClan cannibals]] planning on killing and eating them! In fact, all the way back in Episode 1, he is absolutely in the right about what should be done with Duck. Duck ''wasn't'' bitten, and Larry ''was'' being an asshole in suggesting Duck be thrown to the Walkers, he would've been throwing out an innocent boy]]!

** Larry is a spiteful person, but [[spoiler: it's possible for the player to make him (partially) right about you if you consistently pick "[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential asshole]]" choices, such as repeatedly insulting him to his face or persuading him to eat human flesh]].

** In Episode 3, [[spoiler: Lilly becomes a paranoid wreck, ranting that somebody is stealing supplies and betraying the group. She first accuses Ben, and then either accuses Carley or keeps accusing Ben depending on whether you saved Carley or Doug in Episode 1. Guess what— she's ''right!'' (Except for the Carley thing, of course.) Ben ''was'' stealing supplies and giving them to bandits]]!

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Vernon's group steals Lee's boat and escape, and while they did go off to save Clementine, and would not end [[KillEmAll up needing the boat anyway]], Vernon still knew they were trapped in a walker horde with a little girl and a heavily injured man]]. However, it's implied that [[spoiler: the boat had only a small amount of fuel, plus the group consists of elderly cancer survivors with no weapons except for one gun, so their chances of survival are pretty slim even if they make it to land]]. [[note]] Subverted expectations in ''400 Days''. You find what remains of the cancer survivors group, and it's strongly implied that Vernon's decision to steal the boat from Lee's group caused the group to fracture over the decision... with Vernon noticeably missing. [[/note]]

* KillEmAll: [[spoiler: Clementine is the only confirmed survivor. The fates of Omid and Christa are left ambiguous (they might have been the two people Clementine saw off in the distance in TheStinger). Vernon's group made it out, but in ''400 Days'', it's all but confirmed that he died. It is unknown what happened to Molly and Lilly, but Molly's odds in particular are not good. Every other named character dies onscreen, including [[TheHeroDies Lee]]]]...
** [[spoiler: Although Season Two averts this somewhat by revealing that Kenny survived his presumed death, and Clementine did meet up with Omid and Christa]].

** Depending [[FromACertainPointOfView on your point of view]] you can be said to do this to the [[spoiler: St. John brothers in Episode 2]].
** [[spoiler: You can do this to the screaming woman whose being chased by zombies in Episode 3]].

---> '''Lee:''' So, um... uhh...

* MultipleEndings: [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope 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 Clementine shoots Lee, or leaves him to turn into a Walker]].
* MythologyGag: 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 zombified family members. Including Shawn, whom you fail to save]].

** Though in the comic universe, there is a crossover with the TV show as well. At the end of Episode 1, Glenn leaves with Clementine's walkie-talkie, the same one he uses to contact Rick when the latter is trapped in the tank.

** And [[OverlyLongGag one more time]] in Episode 2: [[spoiler: Think you can avoid the whole mess with the Stranger by refusing to steal the supplies from his car? Lee and Clementine will just stand aside while the rest of the group takes them anyway]].

** 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: [[BigBad 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 at the time.

** In ''Long Road Ahead'', [[spoiler: Lee and Kenny will see a bitten girl being attacked by Walkers, and Lee can either [[MercyKill mercy kill]] 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 [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter Lilly]] while defending [[TheMillstone Ben]] (if you save Carley, it's on purpose, but if you save Doug, it will be an accident.) You find out that [[CheerfulChild Duck]] was bitten during the attack, and [[KindlyVet Katjaa]] will commit suicide before she can kill him herself. You or Kenny can shoot Duck instead, or you can leave him]].

* DevelopersForesight: While walking to the St. John's Dairy Farm in Episode 2, you can say that Lilly, Kenny, Lee, or that the group is a democracy when Andrew asks about the leader, and then when talking to Brenda alongside him, you can go back on what you said and Andrew will notice that [[ImmediateSelfContradiction you contradicted yourself]] and call you on it.

** During the mansion attack in Episode 5 everyone says how many bullets are left in their guns. [[spoiler: If you fire all but one, you can give it to Kenny when he tries to help Ben ([[StoryBranching if he survived the previous episode]]) after his fall, so he can MercyKill Ben and (allegedly) himself. Otherwise he will only have the one bullet from the gun taken from a dead couple found just before]].

* HeroicSacrifice: Episode 3 shows [[spoiler: Doug TakingTheBullet Lilly had reserved for Ben, if he was the one Lee had saved near the end of Episode 1]].

* ICantReachIt: Two examples in ''Long Road Ahead''. When Lee discovers a Walker buckled into the seat of a car, you are only allowed to kill it by releasing its seatbelt and letting it come after you, rather than simply climbing over the car and attacking it from safety. Later, [[spoiler: after Kenny has crossed the DespairEventHorizon, you have a literal example when he refuses to move to let you grab a map]].

** One: [[spoiler: Alright, there was no one at the car, but that proves nothing, right? Except he left it completely alone in the middle of the night, in an area filled with zombies and bandits. Did he really expect anyone to make a different assumption than "being dead" or "ran for the lives"]]?
** Two: [[spoiler: Next, and more importantly, is ''how'' he left it. The keys were in the ignition, the door was wide open, the lights were on in the car (basically a gigantic "Hey, look over here!"), and the food was blatantly uncovered. No intelligent person in this universe, even if they were already leaving their "dwelling" (for lack of a better term) in the pitch-black night, would do so much to make their car both impossible to miss, so easy to break into, and (this can't be stressed enough) so very, very '''''abandoned.''''' Really, anyone would have thought the owners gone or dead (possibly from being TooDumbToLive)]].

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], sadly, with Duck in Episode 3, who either gets shot by Lee or Kenny to prevent him from turning, or is left to turn as Kenny and Lee walk away]].
* InterfaceSpoiler: {{Downplayed}}. Some of the story messages are quite relevant, but others turn out to be ultimately meaningless, and a few actions with consequences further down the road don't result in one. It doesn't take long to realize that they are very likely to be vague foreshadowing at best or deliberate misdirections at worst than spoil the plot.

** The player can choose whether or not to reveal [[spoiler: Lee's bite wound]] to the other characters. [[spoiler: Ben's collusion with the bandits]] also comes out in the same episode, with the player having learned it in the previous episode.

** [[spoiler: Other short-lived characters use the same white font as Lee, for instance [[NiceGuy Mark]]. [[MauveShirt Don't get too attached to these people]]]].

* CruelMercy: The player can indulge in this at the end of Episode 2 if they [[spoiler: leave Andrew the only remaining St. John, tell him his mother and brother are both dead, beat the crap out of him and then leave him screaming in the mud]].

** The general behavior of the group shifts as well: [[spoiler: Lee, who can have the most optimistic lines of the game depending on your 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]].

* DevelopersForesight: While walking to the St. John's Dairy Farm in Episode 2, you can say that Lilly, Kenny, Lee, or that the group is a democracy when Andrew asks about the leader, and then when talking to Brenda alongside him, you can go back on what you said and Andrew will notice that you contradicted yourself and call you on it.
** [[spoiler: If you helpee Kenny kill Larry, but spare Danny St. John, Lilly calls you out on your hypocrisy]].

* DevouredByTheHorde: Some deaths will vary on who you choose to save:

** In Episode 4, ''Around Every Corner'', [[spoiler: when Ben is grabbed by a zombified Crawford Oberson who had been hung from the bell and Lee saves him from it, [[DeathSeeker Ben]] [[MercyKill wants Lee to let him go]] because of all the trouble he caused. If Lee chooses to let him go, Ben will drop down the tower and break his legs while nearby Walkers will devour him alive]].

* 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: [[TheCameo Shawn]] will die and become a Walker, which happens during the episode]], and [[spoiler: [[TheCameo Hershel and Glenn]]]] will live and later appear in the comics.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "''It goes to show, people will up and go mad when they think their life is over.''" Or if you continue trying to examine the police radio when a bunch of cops are rushing to the city (to deal with the zombie apocalypse and all): "''You'll have to learn to stop worrying about things you can't control''".

** In the end, [[spoiler: the Stranger is just another survivor who lost everything, and gives sympathetic reasons for his attitude toward you]]. But by this point, [[spoiler: he]] ''is'' completely fucking insane.

* {{Hammerspace}}: Characters, mostly Lee, will pull out items or objects from their pockets, sometimes ones that will be larger then their pockets.

** In Episode 4, after [[DirtyCoward Ben]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere ran off and abandoned Clementine]] when they were surrounded by Walkers, Chuck runs to her aid and tells the group to move on while he holds back the Walkers. Later on, Lee [[spoiler: finds his corpse in the sewers]].

** 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 [[AnArmAndALeg leg wound]]. While walking to the St. John farm, the group will see a bandit murder another bandit with a shotgun overkill. Jolene, the madwoman at the camp, will be shot by either Danny or Lee. [[NiceGuy Mark]] will have his legs cut off for food by the St. Johns and die from his wounds off-screen. [[GrumpyOldMan 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. [[EvilMatriarch 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 [[CannibalClan him and his brother]], they both die in the ensuing Walker attack]].

* ChildrenAreAWaste: In Episode 4, [[spoiler: the [[TheSocialDarwinist inhabitants]] of the Crawford enclave seemed to think so, with their policy of no mouths to feed who could not provide back for the community. In a case of [[SocialDarwiniast Darwinian]] [[{{Irony}} Irony]], the structural exclusion of children and elderly combined with their isolationist policies would lead to them eventually falling apart when its members are too old to fend for themselves anymore and their population of young and healthy people dwindled]].

** If Lee tries to save Shawn one of the things Hershel can say is to warn Lee to watch [[WhatHaveYouDoneForMeLately Kenny]], as he will prove unhelpful if Clementine is ever in any danger. Lo and behold, [[spoiler: Kenny can refuse to help Lee rescue her at the end of Episode 4 if their relationship has been too negative]].

--> [[spoiler:'''Katjaa''']]''':''' Kenny, [[spoiler: I love you ''very much''. I love our son ''more than life itself'']].

* GoryDiscretionShot: Normally, the series [[AvertedTrope averts this]]. But in Episode 3, [[spoiler: when Lee or Kenny is forced to MercyKill Duck, you don't see the results of the gunshot. But Lee and Kenny certainly do]]...

** In Episode 3, if you choose to [[spoiler: not kill the girl who was bitten and is being attacked by zombies]], you have much more time to get supplies, [[spoiler: all while she screams in agony. And then she suddenly stops]].

** In ''Long Road Ahead'', [[spoiler: Lee and Kenny will see a bitten girl being attacked by Walkers, and Lee can either [[MercyKill mercy kill]] 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 [[TheMillstone Ben]] (if you save Carley, it's on purpose, but if you save Doug, it will be an accident.) You find out that [[CheerfulChild Duck]] was bitten during the attack, and [[KindlyVet Katjaa]] will commit suicide before she can kill him herself. You or Kenny can shoot Duck instead, or you can leave him]].

** The Multi-tool [[spoiler: is a [[SubvertedTrope 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]].

* {{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, or maybe ''[[TrueCompanions ALL]]'' [[TrueCompanions 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-talkie springs to life with Clementine 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, [[NothingIsScarier there no preview of the next episode either]]]].

* CoolTrain: Omid certainly thinks it is, what with his eagerness to learn the controls and all.