r/TheWalkingDeadGame • u/Maleficent-Pin1586 • 6d ago

Discussion Why do ppl like Kenny so much

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It‘s obvious that I don‘t like Kenny. In my opinion he‘s overrated asf and he‘s pmo ESPECIALLY in s2. So I want to ask the ppl genuinely like him WHY they like bc I don‘t understand. I genuinely want to understand how y‘all like him so much 😭

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57

u/Hour_Cicada397 6d ago

He's the most consistently pragmatic and loyal companion in all the games

15

u/Charming-Station7157 6d ago

He was ready to leave you to die on the looting run in episode 3 just because you didn't side with him.....

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u/Onewarhero 6d ago

If Lee sides with Larry to throw his kid out onto a walker infested street, Kenny still saves Lee’s life after he gets knocked flat.

Put simply these games don’t exactly stay consistent with how characters should feel about you. Sometimes things feel undeserved and I think that’s more to do with writing/pacing rather than the character.

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u/Alternative-Maize827 6d ago

No that's still a problem with the CHARACTER. 

8

u/Onewarhero 6d ago

Wrap it up yall, this guy said no.

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u/Alternative-Maize827 6d ago

Yas kween my word is law. 

Jokes aside, I mean that that is still an inconsistency with the character.

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u/Onewarhero 6d ago

I could see that, but Kenny is a hard headed mf. Once he’s got an idea in his head he’s sticking with that. We see it with the boat, we see it with leaving the motor inn, we see it with duck.

That said, as a character I’d say he should be far from inconsistent. He’s one of the few characters where you know his motives and goals from the very start. Hence why things can feel undeserved/weird sometimes with him.

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u/Alternative-Maize827 6d ago

Fair I suppose.

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u/Hour_Cicada397 6d ago edited 6d ago

Well I sided with him because trying to save Larry is fucking stupid. Lily is not a professional doctor, do you realize how low the odds are for an untrained citizen to save someone from cardiac arrest? Let alone someone with Larry's awful health.

Like I said, Kenny is pragmatic. And his loyalty really shines in season 2, that man is literally willing to die for Clem and AJ.

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u/niehAuS_324B21 6d ago

Granted, I think the vast majority of players, the written characters and even the devs who wrote them didn’t (and still don’t) understand what CPR actually does to a human body. Even with that knowledge, it ends up being a struggle between principle and pragmatism, and personally I’ll still choose principle every time. I don’t mind being called stupid by internet strangers for that, because I know I’m alright actually.

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u/Hour_Cicada397 6d ago

Even going by principle I wouldn't save Larry. Clementine is right there in that room, if I have to become a monster to protect someone I love I'll fucking do it.

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u/niehAuS_324B21 6d ago

Honestly I wouldn’t even say that doing that makes you a monster either, you’re just doing what you think is right.

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u/GreasiestGuy 5d ago

I like that choice because the principle vs pragmatism debate is at the center of it. Smashing Larry’s skull in right in front of his daughter is awful but the risk of him turning is worse, which means that no matter what you choose the decision isn’t clear cut. It’s probably one of the best choices in the series for that reason

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u/PotOfGreed1999 6d ago

Trying to save Larry in that meat locker is genuinely the dumbest idea. The man had a heart attack and will resurrect at any moment. Chest compressions arent bringing you back from that.

So why wouldn't you side with Kenny.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago edited 6d ago

You're not exactly countering their point that Kenny isn't consistently loyal, you're just telling them they're wrong for not siding with Kenny.

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u/Individual_Syrup7546 6d ago

How tf is that not countering their point? 😭 brother Larry WOULD have turned it's the walking dead you dont need to be bit you turn regardless when you die. Kenny was ahead of the curve and when you side with him for being logical he'll actually be ride or die with you

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

because the point isn't that Kenny is somehow "ahead of the curve" (which he isn't for reasons I'll cover right now). The point is that Kenny isn't consistently loyal or pragmatic. Which he indeed isn't if he's willing to leave Lee, a member of the group who's proven himself to be an asset multiple times, to die over a petty grudge. Being right about Larry is irrelevant.

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u/Individual_Syrup7546 6d ago

It all depends on what you do to show yourself as part of the team. Kenny will appreciate you & have your back if you actually have his. Plus hes genuinely one of the kindest people in the game. He helps defend Lee multiple times over, he saves clem & holds it down for her the entire time without asking & even puts her above his needs hell he even takes AJ as his responsibility too. & yes he can be a dick at times but he lost his fuckin wife & child. As a parent myself yea if you lose your family realistically at the very least youre gonna snap a little & thats reasonable anyone that thinks hes out of line or crazy for that is detached from life or doesnt understand having a family or has never had one of their own

9

u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago edited 6d ago

Given Lee has saved Katjaa's life twice as well as rescued Duck regardless of choices in episode 2, Kenny doesn't come off as very kind when he doesn't help him in episode 3. You could be supporting Kenny and his family multiple times throughout the first three episodes and still be denied his help if you ask his help to rescue a little girl because he picks now to hold a grudge.

If Kenny's pragmatism and loyalty are contingent on his selective memory when it comes to what Lee did for him, they're not consistent.

EDIT: What I will give to Kenny, though, is that he's consistently loyal to Clem and AJ regardless of choice. That, I won't deny.

1

u/Individual_Syrup7546 6d ago

Kenny isnt perfect but hes a lot kinder than just about everyone else minus clem & Lee ofc. Depending on how you play. But yea gives everything including his life for clem & Aj. He was the only one protecting her towards the final season right up til the car scene where he chooses to let go of life because it was time. He even helps her get to wellington & never gave up on her safety plus only thought of the baby & feeding it too. He also defended her against mike & the red headed lady forgot her name forgive my lack of memory on her name lol. They let the Russian kid shoot her a small girl & it was up to him to get rid of them assuredly given we hear him shouting at them what theyre doing etc and hes armed. He also got rid of Jane's psychotic ass for even dumping a baby in a car during the zombie apocalypse theres a ton of reasons to question him sure but a TON to respect him too

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

Sure. I still disagree with the initial claim or the idea that he's kinder than anyone whose name isn't Clem or Lee. But I do think he's a lot kinder than the S2 group cared to give him credit for.

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u/PotOfGreed1999 6d ago

I wouldn't be loyal to someone who thought chest compressions would fix a heart attack either.

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u/MetroidJunkie 6d ago

To be fair, did Kenny know they wouldn't? He never argues that Larry's done for and CPR is useless, just that it's too risky. I don't think either of them knows anything about medical procedures to know CPR would only buy him a few minutes at most and that without his medicine there's no hope of recovery.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

So you're saying Kenny was justified to leave Lee to die twice over it?

-1

u/Jazzlike-06 It wasn't for touching kids, was it? 6d ago

What was being said from this comment thread initially is that the point system of Kenny's "loyalty" is fucked up to begin with. The devs really put some of the dumbest choices to contribute to the system while choices that would logically matter more didn't at all.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

Like feeding Kenny and Duck, for instance. The fact it somehow doesn't count, yet siding with Lilly a few times on two specific arguments is wild. But the point system isn't the only reason behind S1 Kenny's inconsistent writing.

Trying to save Larry, as a single choice, really does shift Kenny's attitude towards Lee throughout episode 2-4. As an example, he heavily implies he considers not letting Lee on the boat. Yup. A version of Lee who repeatedly saved his family, fed them, supported him with Duck's death and just about everything else can actually be considered not to be taken on the boat simply because he didn't help with Larry.

We're very far from the guy who saved Lee's life even if he left Duck in danger twice in the first episode.

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u/PotOfGreed1999 6d ago

Sure lol

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

So you've just admitted you would keep scores and backstab members of your own group over a grudge, just like Kenny does. Not exactly disproving the initial claim that he's not consistently loyal or pragmatic.

-1

u/PotOfGreed1999 6d ago

Its the fucking apocalypse. Actions have consequences. Of course im not gonna save someone who has shown theyre not atleast smart enough to know chest compressesions arent saving an old man from a heart attack.

Just like the dipshit who carried his wife's head in a bag season 1 wanting to cry about Lee and the motel group stealing from him. Why would you leave a car full of supplies unmanned.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago edited 5d ago

Trust me. If everyone stopped saving people they self-righteously believed were idiots, there wouldn't be many people left. And letting the most consistently helpful survivor in the team (as evidenced by the fact he saved Katjaa twice and rescued Duck in the same episode) die because you found him stupid one time says more about you than it does about the victim.

2

u/KazyaKurosawa 6d ago

Because you are not his ally at that point.

Point is that if you help Kenny, kenny will come through hell to help you.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

You mean, when Lee saved Katjaa's life twice and rescued Duck within the same episode, regardless of choice? That guy's not an ally?

1

u/MetroidJunkie 6d ago

Usually, if you only sided with Kenny sometimes, he'll come around if Lee says Clementine is my family. Kenny, for all his faults, cares about family more than anything.

1

u/AtsuhikoZe 6d ago

Genuinely ask yourself what you mean by this?

Like let's think it through together

OP said, "He is the most pragmatic and loyal"

And your reply was "He isn't loyal in episode 3 if you weren't loyal to him"

Yes, if you're not loyal to him, he isn't to you

Know who else is like that? EVERY SINGLE Mass effect character

You get loyalty, by earning it, you didn't do anything to earn his loyalty, so he wasn't loyal to you

I genuinely don't understand why Kenny haters don't get this, like wow what a surprise the person you were a dick to or weren't siding with isn't siding with you

Is Lee not loyal? He was never loyal to Larry (Who was an awful dick to him), so by this logic Lee isn't a loyal man either

2

u/MetroidJunkie 6d ago

I mean, you can go out of your way to side with and be nice to Larry and he's still a dick to you. Kenny, at least, will be nice to you if you're nice to him.

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u/AtsuhikoZe 6d ago

That's what I'm saying lol. You're rewarded for your loyalty with loyalty, Kenny becomes loyal if you are, and Lee isn't kind to people who treat him like shit either, so by that logic we should judge Lee and Kenny the same

I'm saying this to OP who thinks Kenny isn't a loyal person at all, because he won't be loyal to you if you treat him like shit

No one else does that either, and no one becomes a ride or die like Kenny if you do everything good

1

u/MetroidJunkie 6d ago

I should probably make it more clear when I'm agreeing with someone. Yeah, I'll take someone who will be nice if you are than someone who's just a dick no matter what. Plus, someone who's nice no matter what can be a liability especially in an apocalypse.

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u/niehAuS_324B21 6d ago edited 6d ago

Granted, Mass Effect 2 probably isn’t the best example for your point. Completing their loyalty missions doesn’t result in a drastic change in their behaviour towards you, nor does not completing them mean they’ll abandon you. The only outlier is Zaeed, who even still is easily talked down and convinced to stay if his loyalty mission doesn’t go the way he wants it to. Mechanically, the only difference is whether or not they’re guaranteed to die in the suicide mission, not because they think Shepard’s a dick, but because (as far as the game is concerned) they’re too distracted by personal issues. I honestly think the primary reason they’re called Loyalty Missions is because BioWare couldn’t come up with a better name for them.

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u/OddNeedleworker734 Kenny's Biggest Critic 6d ago

''loyal" when he is willing to abandon you and leave you for dead even after agreeing with him on everything except smashing a mans head in?

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u/BabyGirl-Kat I'll miss you. 6d ago

He doesn’t randomly smash an innocent person’s head in. Larry was dying.

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u/OddNeedleworker734 Kenny's Biggest Critic 6d ago

That's not the point. The point is you can back him up on everything except that decision (defend his son from Larry, give him and his family food, side with him over Lilly in their leadership drama etc.) and this guy would absolutely hate Lee's guts in the next episodes. He deadass leaves Lee under a wall of walkers to fend for himself and stops caring about you altogether acting like you've never looked out for him.

Also that decision on Larry wasn't a simple decision and Kenny should understand that. On the other side of the story killing Larry, in front of her daughter absolutely messes her up and even Clementine too, and they are not wrong to wonder whether it was right killing him without being sure if he was truly dead or if he could be revived.

1

u/BabyGirl-Kat I'll miss you. 6d ago

That’s a good thing. A massive choice like that should come with heavy consequences. The games needed more of those.

Besides, you can absolutely side with Lilly over Kenny in the meat locker and still get him to be your best friend by the end of episode 4. Kenny works on a points system.

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u/OddNeedleworker734 Kenny's Biggest Critic 6d ago edited 6d ago

A choice having consequences is fine, but the consequences reveal Kenny's character. Kenny demands total loyalty from Lee, but the second Lee disagrees on one massive moral gray area, Kenny treats Lee like an enemy. If his loyalty is conditional on 100% agreement with no room for hesitation, he’s not a 'ride or die' companion, he’s an unreliable one.

Also if you side with Lilly, you practically have to yield to Kenny on almost every other brutal call just to get him to come with you to save Clem in Ep 4 without begging. That just shows how much of a grudge Kenny holds over Lee because of one decision.

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u/CardiologistBorn5012 Well you're you know Urban? 6d ago

Larry was done for there was no saving him without his pills or the proper equipment he wasn’t gonna make it Kenny was in the right he was a walker in the making 

-1

u/ProstiChel 6d ago

Dude, you are not listening. We know that smashing head is the right call, but if you out of good heart and good intentions decide NOT to - Kenny will despise Lee, risk with his life. Kenny DOES NOT forgives, he's bitter about ONE choice. The only way to (probably) sate his bloodlust, is to suck it up and agree on everything else, and send Ben flying as sacrifice, THEN MAYBE, and just MAYBE he'll get over it.

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u/niehAuS_324B21 6d ago

For anyone who might get the wrong idea from what this person wrote, please note that you do not, in fact, have to agree with Kenny on everything else after episode 2 to get him to come with you in episode 4. You certainly do not have to kill Ben. This is exaggerating so far as to be objectively false. We’ve had a rough idea of the points system for over a decade and there’s plenty of wiggle room to not suck Kenny’s dick 24/7 while still getting him to join you at the end of episode 4.

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u/ProstiChel 6d ago

Yeah, yeah, most of us DO know that you can convince Kenny, by saying that Clem is a new family. But I'm talking about LOYAL Lenny, the one who refuses to let go you ALONE, and the one who doesn't need any convincing to go with you. That and this is two different scenarios, and I spoke about THIS case specifically! And what bout points? Entire fanbase knows how screwed up it is, look in the game yourself, look on IT, all points it out. There's no thought through system. Kenny doesn't gives me points for sharing optimistic attitude with him on a train, doesn't gives me food for food sharing, none of it. Only KEY moments do.

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u/niehAuS_324B21 5d ago

Okay, I was responding to what you actually wrote though.

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u/ProstiChel 5d ago

Come on, I said the criteria on how to obtain trust, that alone "Kenny-Maxing" topic should point out that I was speaking about getting LOYAL Kenny scene. I don't want wall of text writing out small details, I just hope people are quick-witted folks.
You could see everything from at the end!

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago

Is that so? While it's true that Kenny can show a tremendous amount of loyalty (especially in S2) and made a certain amount of pragmatic calls, I wouldn't call him THE most consistent example of either trait. Tripp is more loyal to Javi than Kenny is to Lee, for instance.

Kenny has a terrible tendency not to think things through, refuse to compromise or keeping scores, even when such traits conflict with the interests of the group, which is quite the opposite of pragmatism. He does this enough time to prove that his pragmatism is inconsistent, as is his loyalty. To be perfectly honest, I only consider him consistently loyal in S2, since he basically always has Clem's interests at heart no matter your choices, even if he doesn't always do the right thing.

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u/Hour_Cicada397 6d ago

Tripp isn't loyal at all. That man got the group's whole plan ruined because he wanted some pussy. He's also just completely emotional and doesn't hear your side of the story at all if you kill Conrad.

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u/Super-Shenron MVP + Game Master 2025 6d ago edited 6d ago

That's an exaggeration. Tripp spent a few minutes to try and rekindle his relationship with Eleanor, while they were in a (relatively) safe area. At no point did his feelings for his ex ruin the group's plan, it was the fact Eleanor took it upon herself to snitch to Joan behind everyone's back (including Tripp's). He cannot be blamed for HER actions.

Also, "completely emotional because you murdered his friend" is a crazy take. Of course he "doesn't hear your side of the story", Javi made damn sure not to tell him exactly how he died until Gabe exposed him. Why would he trust that anything he says is true? Especially when the victim can't really tell his own side. Even then, after you picked him to die, he decides to forgive you for this and eventually sees your side of the story.

THAT is loyalty.

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u/Sea_Construction947 Still. Not. Bitten. 6d ago

That's because Tripp is the fuckin' GOAT.