Draft:Kenny (The Walking Dead)

Kenny is a fictional character in Telltale's episodic adventure video game series The Walking Dead, an adaptation of the comic series of the same name. First introduced in the 2012 video game The Walking Dead, Kenny serves as the main tritagonist of the series. He is voiced by Gavin Hammon

A fisherman captain hailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Kenny is one of the remaining survivors of a zombie apocalypse that left much of the world in ruins. After surviving on the road for the first three days of the apocalypse, Kenny and his family met Lee Everett and Clementine, with whom they would form a group. Fiercely committed to his family, Kenny is one of the main non-playable characters of the series, with the player's actions determining his status as a friend or a foe with the protagonist.

Kenny, as a character, has generally been well-received both among fans and critics. While most praise his writing and character depth, fans' feelings on the character itself are often divided. Whereas some view him as "loyal to a fault", others see him as "abusive" and "dangerous", making him one of the most polarizing characters of the series.

Development
Kenny was first introduced in the episodic video game The Walking Dead. He is voiced by Gavin Hammon, who was initially informed of the audition by his agent. As is customary, he auditioned for many male roles, and he "just sorta went for it", and, after a month, Hammon was booked as Kenny. The voice-runners had requested that Hammon use a Southern accent for Kenny, to which he put on a "really light accent". To augment his knowledge of The Walking Dead going in and best perform, Hammon had read the first two trades of the comic book series and watched the first season of the TV show.

Season One
Before the apocalypse, Kenny was a commercial fisherman captain.

Kenny is first introduced to Lee Everett and Clementine at Hershel Greene's farm, where he and his family had been residing. Here, Kenny introduces his veterinarian wife, Katjaa, and son, Kenny "Duck" Jr., the latter of whom indirectly causes the death of Hershel Greene's son, regardless of the player's choices, prompting him to kick the group off the farm.

Arriving in Macon, Georgia in search of fuel and supplies, the group was attacked by walkers, and Duck was accused of being bit by a group of survivors who had taken them refuge in a drugstore. After a debacle with the accuser, a beefy curmudgeon named Larry, though Kenny attempts to assume a leader position and get everything under control, the place is overrun and Kenny and the survivors had to evacuate.

Regrouping at a nearby abandoned motor inn, Kenny and the rest of the group would spend the next three months surviving the apocalypse, but by the beginning of fall, they had run out of food. During that time, tensions began to rise between Kenny and Lilly, Larry's daughter, over how best to run the group. Eventually, two strangers, who revealed themselves to be farmers from a nearby farm, the St. John's Family Dairy, would approach the motor inn, offering to trade the survivors food in exchange for gas.

As the group was invited for a meal over at the farm, it was later discovered that the St. John's were cannibals who had served them human meat. The St. John's then locked most of the group inside a meat locker. As those trapped inside tried to escape, Larry had a heart attack and fell to the ground unconscious. Kenny, immediately conscious of what may happen after his death, suggested they smash his head in, citing that "in a few minutes, we're gonna be stuck with a 6 foot 4, 300-pound, seriously pissed off dead guy!" As Lilly tried to revive Larry, Kenny grabbed a salt lick and destroyed Larry's head. The group would eventually free themselves and rescue the captives from the St. John's. Leaving the farm, the group noticed a seemingly abandoned station wagon, from which Kenny suggested they steal the supplies.

After about a week, bandits and walkers attacked the motor inn, causing the group to flee in an RV. Kenny later found out that during the escape, a walker had bitten his son, Duck. Initially denying that his son was dying, Kenny was forced to acknowledge the reality of his son's impending death after being confronted by Lee. However, Katjaa could not bear to live without her son and decided to kill herself, further devastating Kenny and leaving him with much grief.

Making their way to Savannah, the group would search for a boat there in vain, before later stumbling upon one by accident that happened to be in a shed. However, the boat lacked fuel and a functional battery. Kenny's group met another group of survivors led by Vernon who resided in the city's sewer system. Vernon's group proposed that they should join forces and raid Crawford, a section of Savannah that had been sealed off by a group of survivors who believed in extreme measures to survive.

After retrieving the necessary supplies from Crawford, Kenny would later be working on the boat. However, Clementine was kidnapped by a stranger, later revealed to be the owner of the car Kenny's group encountered in the forest. As the search for Clementine began, Vernon's group decided to return to steal the boat from Kenny's group. At the sight of his boat being gone, Kenny grew even more depressed.

Kenny would later sacrifice himself for the sake of another member of the group, feeling the need to atone for his perceived past failings to save his family, being presumed dead immediately thereafter.

Season Two
Two years after the events of the first season, Kenny noticed that a group was approaching their lodge. He went outside to meet them and got into an contentious argument with them, but then discovered that among them was Clementine, who was part of his original group. However, the lodge was later raided by a group of survivors led by William Carver. Carver's group had been hunting down the group Clementine was with.

Upon arriving at Carver's camp, Kenny devised a plan to escape the camp which required the use of two walkie-talkies. Clementine stole one of the walkie-talkies from Carver's office. However, Kenny's plan was foiled when Carver knew what was happening. Kenny then took the blame for Clementine's theft, but Carver, who was determined to make an example out of Kenny, beat him repeatedly with his walkie-talkie, crushing Kenny's left eye.

The group would later devise another plan to escape the camp as a herd of walkers proceeded to ravage the camp's defenses. During the group's escape, Sarita had been bitten by a walker. Her loss further enraged Kenny and isolated him from the rest of the group. Fellow group members were worried that Kenny was becoming unstable.

One of the group's members was pregnant and gave birth to a baby named Alvin Jr. before dying of exhaustion. Kenny saw taking care of the baby as an opportunity to redeem himself for his past failures. However, his demeanor by this time had grown fully hostile to the other group members. After losing other members of the group for various reasons, the sole four remaining survivors were Kenny, Clementine, Jane and Alvin Jr.

Jane thought that Kenny was crazy, and to prove her point, deliberately hid Alvin Jr. to make Kenny believe he was dead. An enraged Kenny began to fight Jane. As Kenny gained the upper hand and was about to kill Jane, Clementine looked on with a gun near her. The player then has the choice to either let Jane die or shoot Kenny.

Should the player shoot Kenny, he will thank her for shooting him, telling her that she "made the right choice". Kenny then passes away as Clementine stands near him. However, the player can also elect to let Kenny kill Jane. Kenny will then regret killing Jane.

Clementine will later find out that Alvin Jr. is alive. Should Kenny still be alive, the player will have the option to either trust him and go to Wellington with him or leave him to go alone with the baby.

If Clementine made it to Wellington with Kenny, they will be informed that there is not enough room for fellow survivors and that they will have to be turned away. However, there would be room for just Clementine and Alvin Jr. The player can choose to remain in Wellington or leave with Kenny.

If the player leaves with Kenny, it will be revealed in the next season that Kenny died after being ejected in a car crash as he was attempting to teach Clementine how to drive. If the player remains in Wellington, Kenny is never heard from or seen again.

Other appearances
Kenny can also be mentioned by Clementine in other various dialogue options. In the 2022 graphic novel Clementine: Book One, the name of "Kenny" is given by Clementine to her protesthetic leg.

Reception
Kenny's character has been well-received. Writing three years after the series' completion, Neil Bolt refers to Kenny's character in comparison with the rest of The Walking Dead universe as "arguably one of its best". After the conclusion of Season Two, WatchMojo named him the third best character of the series. He has also been voted by fans as the third best character in the series.