The Walking Dead’s Clementine almost removed from game

One week prior to voice recording

One week prior to voice recording, developer Telltale Games considered removing Clementine, the helpless, orphaned nine-year-old that the player protects throughout The Walking Dead adventure series.

“We tried to answer this one question: Why would you not leave this group of assholes?” writer Jake Rodkin said at a GDC talk, according to Eurogamer. “If you don’t care about that child then we’re doubly screwed, because you’d be frustrated by this group and you’d be shackled to this little kid you don’t care about. Was there talk about leaving Clementine out of the game a week before voice recording? Yes. Yes there was.”

When I polled Destructoid staff on their favorite character of 2012, most entries came from The Walking Dead. One especially stood out: Clementine. It’s surprising then to learn that a character who is so crucial to the game’s plot, that resonated with players, was almost cut. Luckily, all the parts came together and now fans will think of a little girl instead of an orange when they hear “clementine.”

Telltale nearly scrapped The Walking Dead’s Clementine a week before recording [Eurogamer]