When I found out that Clint from Stardew Valley had been announced as one of the two new marriage candidates in the 1.7 update, I yelled incredulously, “That incel?!” and was consumed by the news for the rest of the evening — if Clint has a million haters (and he does), I am one of them; if he has zero haters, I have left this earthly realm. However, now that I’ve slept on it, I’ve come to see that perhaps that’s exactly the point — there is no character in more dire need of redemption than Clint.
Clint, Pelican Town’s blacksmith, has drawn a lot of ire over the years, largely due to his obsession with Emily, another marriage candidate. In one of his first heart events, he asks the player for their advice on women, proceeds to act incredibly awkwardly in front of Emily, who is taking his order in the saloon, then laments to the player that he’s “doomed.” He frequently comes off as defeatist, desperate, and borderline creepy — in many ways he feels like a classic “nice guy” who becomes upset at even the slightest perceived rejection.
My reaction to this part of the 1.7 update was far from unique. There have been a myriad of complaints raised, sadness about who ConcernedApe should’ve chosen instead (Wizard, my beloved, your time will come), and countless memes since the news dropped. One X user wrote, “Imagine getting off of the worst shift of ur life and finding out Clint is now a marriable character in Stardew Valley.”
However, some discussion on the matter hasn’t been so bleak, and — as much as I hate to admit it — has raised a few good points. Some fans have compared the idea of Clint’s redemption to that of Haley. She is extremely mean when you first meet her, but softens over time, which one Reddit user referred to as “power-leveling Haley so she sucks less as a person.” Clint shares a lot of that same potential, but with one key difference: he gives a lot of players the ick.
I’ve personally always found Haley’s initial unpleasantness easier to stomach than Clint’s one-sided obsession with a woman who doesn’t reciprocate, and many other players seem to feel the same. It’s hard to place a finger on precisely why — perhaps it’s just a situation many fans can relate to, giving them a more visceral reaction to Clint than to Haley. This ick factor Clint possesses undeniably presents an extra wrinkle in him ever feeling like an appealing marriage candidate, but that’s arguably just another reason the character desperately needs redemption.
I will admit that, as many times as I’ve shouted about how much Clint needs to stop being weird to women, he does inspire some level of sympathy. Perhaps not when you find him hiding in Emily’s bushes, but in general, he does seem like a sad, lonely man. “He is a man looking for someone who will choose him back, and that is what this candidacy gives him,” one Reddit user wrote. “He is looking for what he feels he is missing in his life, and it is just out of reach with Emily.”
Clint’s new romance path may not be for every kind of Stardew Valley player, but it does have its place. As dubious as I am that I could ever come to consider him a potential husband, ConcernedApe is a wonderful writer with a knack for giving depth to every character in Pelican Town. Just as with past updates, 1.7 seems to be a sizable new addition with a lot of love behind it, and Clint’s development is surely not being done flippantly. Perhaps with Clint’s new romance future, fans can finally put their hate for him aside and place it where it truly belongs — on Pierre.
