the Characters

An important key to any good story - whether book, movie, TV series, or game - is the characters involved in the story. Think about it - Firefly is just another space-western without the likes of Mal Reynolds and his crew of misfits; where is Seinfeld without Jerry, Kramer, George, and Elaine; and the Lord of the Rings is not the epic "trilogy" without the Fellowship of the Ring. The same is very true with games, especially when one is talking about tabletop RPGs.  Every RPG, regardless of type (D&D, 4.0, D20M, Dragon Age, Call of Cthulu, the list goes on), requires PCs (Player Characters) to help "tell the story" ... the villain(s), the monsters, Cthulu himself are all meaningless within the world if the PC's aren't there.
Anyone familiar with the Walking Dead (comic or TV series) knows the importance of the characters within - from Rick or Carl down to T-Dog or Allen. The characters are what make this zombie piece stand apart from any other. Moreover, Kirkman has assembled what could be considered a "motley crew" of character types throughout the 100+ issue run of the comic, characters who fit multiple roles - some common and some very unique. The same can be said for the AMC series, as the show's creators (including Kirkman and Frank Darabont) have given us familiar characters and new ones, while also excluding others for the adaptation.
It is because of those characters, and the importance of the characters in the series, that I am excited to run my own Walking Dead based D20M RPG. And it is because of my own group's characters that excitements has grown. I spent part of the day yesterday trying to figure out how I was going to get a mentally challenged janitor, a Latina drug/gun/people runner, a black market doctor, a southern "hillbilly", an abused, fed up ex-army "single" mom, and a badarse driver (who happens to be gay) into the story and bring them all together into one friendly little group. What's more, I will definitely have to build upon that group with NPCs (Non Player Characters) to keep flavor alive and ensure no one is bored with what is going on. Yes, folks, this is likely to be a game with a heavier "role playing" aspect and a mere "hack and slash".
More than just the 'good' PCs/NPCs are those the party will encounter during the game itself ... as Kirkman has even shown, not everyone has the best of intentions in the world gone dead - there are thieves, murderers, cannibals, rapists, sadists in the world - many of whom would have done no such thing prior to hell unleashing on earth. The story is survival - how far would even the best intended soul go to keep themselves and those they love alive? Even the protagonists of TWD go to great extents to protect those they love - Rick has murdered more than one man for preservation, and he is not the only good guy to do so.
My own character development and exploration is something that gives me thrills thinking about for the game - a GM can only go so far in "developing" zombies, their personalities don't lend to much growth. Characters like the Hunters, Negan, and (everyone's favorite) Philip the Governor ... people who would grow in rank and power in the dead world. Already ideas are brewing in my mind ... hope the party is ready ...