Lee Everett is the protagonist, and naturally, the leader of our team. He is a 37 year old man who has made numerous mistakes in his life, yet the zombie apocalypse offers him a chance at redemption.
Early on in the outbreak of the zombie infection, Lee stumbles upon a little girl named Clementine who has been all alone facing the horrors of the end of the world. From this point onward, he promises to take care of her.
Lee's bravery and compassion for essentially picking up the role of an adoptive parent at the snap of a finger shows his character development, and shows how he was able to redeem himself for his previous wrongdoings. Lee starts out in the story as a villain and ends the story as a hero.
Clementine is an 8 year old little girl who has been all alone since the first day of the zombie outbreak. Her parents went on a trip to Savannah, Georgia, and left the little Clementine with her babysitter, Sandra. Unfortunately, Sandra was infected early on, leaving Clementine completely alone.
Smart and resourceful, Clementine spends days alone up in her treehouse, hiding from the zombies. Around day 3 of the outbreak, Lee Everett stumbles upon her house after fleeing from zombies in the woods. Lee Everett finds Clementine alone, and from there on, pledges to look after her and keep her safe.
Throughout the story, Clementine has major character development. Starting out as a shy and frightened little girl, the story ends with her braver than she ever has been. while she starts out as just a deuteragonist and a moral compass for the player, she goes on to be a main character of the sequels and become a symbol of the franchise and an icon in zombie storytelling.
Carley is a news reporter that Lee and Clementine run into during the apocalypse. She is a minor character compared to them, but she still plays a crucial role in the unfolding of the story.
As a news reporter, Carley knows about the thing Lee did. She suggests that Lee tells the others about his past mistakes because it might increase trust among the group, and it would be better for Lee to tell them rather than for them to hear it from somebody else.
Carley ultimately reaches her demise in the middle of the story, but throughout the time spent with her, she has become a favorite character and left a meaningful impact on the story and its other characters.
Kenny is a commercial fisherman that Lee and Clementine met at a farm the day after Lee started looking after Clementine. Kenny is another major character, having a crucial relationship with Lee.
Kenny is a man who puts his family before anything else. Every action Kenny takes is to protect his family. He also pays notice to the player's choices and if they take care of Kenny's family as well.
Many of the player's choices have an impact on the relationship between Lee and Kenny, and depending on which ones you make, Kenny can have major character development. Kenny is somewhat selfish at the start of the story as he puts his family and himself above everything and everyone, but at the end he is willing to make a sacrifice to help a fellow survivor that he doesn't even like.