Character from The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (comics), Frank Darabont (TV), Telltale Games
A child born in the apocalypse and raised by Clementine — he's never known a world with rules, which makes him either the most adapted survivor or the most dangerous person in any room, depending on the moment.
AJ is the Telltale series' ultimate question: what kind of person does the apocalypse produce from scratch? He has no memories of the old world. No nostalgia. No frame of reference for normal. He learned that killing is sometimes necessary before he learned to read. He was taught to aim for the head before he was taught to share. Clementine raised him with everything Lee gave her — protection, survival skills, moral guidance — but the world AJ grew up in is worse than Lee's was. The lessons come out warped. He shoots first because hesitation kills. He struggles to understand why killing a threat is wrong when it's clearly practical. His arc in Season 4 is about Clementine trying to teach him the moral framework she learned from Lee: that survival means nothing if you become a monster to achieve it. AJ's capacity for violence and his capacity for love exist in the same child, and which one dominates depends on the choices Clementine (the player) makes.
A small boy with dark skin, close-cropped hair, and intense dark eyes that watch everything with unnerving focus. He carries a gun that looks too big for his hands with practiced confidence. His face is serious beyond his years — he doesn't smile easily because smiling wasn't a survival skill Clementine could teach. He moves with the alert, careful steps of a child who learned to walk in a world that would kill him for making noise.
Also known as: AJ, Alvin Jr., Goofball