If your main character had to survive a zombie apocalypse…

[CharlesEBrown]

Strange Awakening: Sparrow's first costume was pretty useless - no strategic padding, a bit too much skin showing, and a mask that didn't stay in place. She'd probably be stuck with that, and the zombies would still be in trouble. Especially after she died and came back as a they...

True Blue: Nathan could probably make effective use of anything in his pack or pockets if he had to.

Jack Diamond (Blood Diamond, Diamond in the Rough): He'd find a way to make whatever he found useful... or just become the king of the zombies somehow. And probably complain that he couldn't taste scotch unless he ate a drunk's brain...

Digital Cowboy Dane: Dane had his guns and a knife with him so didn't worry about useless stuff. Plus, they weren't technically zombies, but they pretty much were...

Between Earth and Pyrroth: David West faced stuff much worse than zombies, and ticked off a god while defeating them, with nothing at all except his own abilities. Thellissandra prefers her sword but can pretty much use anything as a weapon, so not much is useless for her. Malcolm would probably have his lute, which is a minor artifact, and, while, technically useless, he could probably invoke a Dead Man's Party or hit them with a Thriller and come out on top. Audrey Ross is a World Walker so would just go somewhere else rather than deal with the walking dead. Carol Bishop would probably have some cosmetics stuff or painting supplies, and at least look good while she got eaten. Liz is a lot like Thellissandra, except she uses yantok instead of swords, and is a trained ER nurse so can probably find a use for anything, no matter how useless it seems.

The Kaiju System: Nick has the M-78 System so doesn't need any items.

 

[RiceCooker717]

If your main character had to survive a zombie apocalypse… but could only use one useless item from their backpack, what would it be?

mine is probably her lipstick taser. What’s yours?

Why would i give him anything? He needed to survive by taking from others or in his own way.

 

[Elmir_Arch-Ham_of_Omega]

If Ingrid could bring one thing it would obviously be her work uniform from her dream job at Fluffyland Park.
Happy Dino! A fuzzy, cute and silly pink T-rex that brings hugs and happiness.
At least that's how she sees the character.
Anyone else with a normal brain sees it for what it is; absolute nightmare fuel.

Ingrid saved Earth wearing this and 10 out of 10 she would do it again.
Happy Dino is her favorite character growing up and thinks everyone should get to know and love him.
It doesn't help that she's even made a self-portait in that analog horror costume.

Don't mind the blondie. She's just Shinji Ikari depressed at the fact she died to a "Custom Character during a serious moment" in the most ridiculous way; including a Looney Tunes style tumble and crash into every visual gag imaginable.

 

[Zagaroth]

Mordecai, Moriko, and Kazue would all be fine without equipment, they can just use some combination of magic, fox fire, and wind strikes to stay out of range.

Kazue would, however, absolutely have some sort of intense and undoubtedly lewd romance book tucked away. Moriko might happen to have a pretty but entirely impractical for the situation dress with her. Mordecai, hmm, if it has to be useless, then it would have to be something sentimental given to him... oh, I know, there is a particular book that was gifted to him in volume 2 that means a lot to him, he might carry that around.

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For arc 2, the focal MCs shift, and I was more concerned for how they might do, then I remembered remembered a couple of things.

So, Amrydor is absolutely fine in any dead-bodies-rise scenario. He hasn't fully realized the extent of his abilities yet, but he is very potent against the undead. However, against mutation/viral/fungal types, he's going to have a harder time. At least he'll be immune; he's already on the cusp of being a fully recognized champion and divine priest, and his patron deity's response would pretty much be: "You're where dealing with what? Alright, you've been doing well anyway, we're skipping the rituals, I hear by grant you my full blessings."

He's still going to need to scavenge for weapons against the not-actually-undead ones though. Unarmed is not his forte, though he's still at least decent.

Fuyuko is absolutely fine combat wise without weapons, but it would put her in claw-and-tooth range, so infection would be an issue. OTOH, the half-lupine, half-oni girl who's had an ancient dragon help train her to overcome her fugue/berserker state would probably be able to shrug off any of the infection types. Plus, she's also on the path to becoming a champion, though due to the nature of her patron deity, neither she nor her deity are aware of this.

Then again, said deity does not know he is a deity, and trying to convince one of his shards that he's actually part of a god is a really bad idea. The Shattered One can not be made whole.

As for useless items, Fuyuko has a book of stories about her clan, which she was gifted because circumstances led to her being isolated from them since the age of 8, when she was orphaned. For Amrydor, creating this one but it matches what we know: he probably has a really nice brushes gifted to him by a kitsune girl... so that he'd have it always available for brushing her hair and tails.

 

[Princessarylin]

Mines has no backpack as she is a noble woman in a fantasy world, but I think she would be relatively safe once she gains access to her magic... Oh, and the military are used to fighting zombie hordes thanks to their northern neighbors, the elves, using them as the main body of their forces.

 

[MFontana]

If your main character had to survive a zombie apocalypse… but could only use one useless item from their backpack, what would it be?

mine is probably her lipstick taser. What’s yours?

Tobias Anderson is the only one who actually has a "backpack" but he doesn't make a habit of carrying "useless" items.
Though, if I could only pick one of his possessions, it would probably be the Aegis Mk. VI he reverse-engineered.
The item is standard issue personal protective gear for the GFPD, and is one of the bits of alien tech he gets his hands on over the course of the story.