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The Last of Us is a masterpiece of gaming. Part Children of Men, part The Road, The Last of Us tells a very moving story about a cross-country trip through zombie-infected America. And while all the zombie stuff is obviously great, the game generated most of its praise owing to its stellar writing, fantastic performances, and remarkable characters.
It’s no secret that video game writing isn’t always of the highest caliber. When it comes to entertainment mediums and their respective stories, video games are often pretty far down on the list. But games like The Last of Us are slowly changing that perception with gripping storytelling and compelling characters that alter the gaming landscape entirely.
Updated on December 20th, 2022 by Jordan Iacobucci: HBO Max’s highly-anticipated live-action adaptation of The Last of Us is nearing its premiere, causing a renewed interest in the beloved game series. As fans prepare to see the emotional story play out before their eyes once more by revisiting the original games, there are certain characters therein who will always stick out in players’ memories as the most compelling in the franchise.
Joel
Joel is the lead character in The Last of Us, and he is arguably the greatest protagonist in modern gaming. Like many great pieces of literature, the game asks its audience to question Joel’s morality and motivation: is he a good but flawed and tragic person trying his best in a post-apocalyptic hellscape, or is he a selfish villain willing to doom the world for his own personal satisfaction?
The ending to The Last of Us leaves viewers to answer these questions on their own, and it may throw players’ perceptions into chaos. The fallout of his choices becomes the premise for the second game, as he is hunted down and murdered by those affected by his actions, cementing his story as one of the most complex in the entire franchise. In the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, Joel is played by The Mandalorian‘s Pedro Pascal.
Ellie
Joining Joel on his mission is Ellie, a young girl who is seemingly immune to the virus. Joel is initially hesitant to protect Ellie, both because of his lone wolf persona and because she reminds him too much of his deceased daughter – memories he’d rather keep buried. Bella Ramsey of Game of Thrones fame portrays Ellie in the HBO adaptation.
Of course, Ellie eventually grows on Joel, and he comes to accept her as his daughter. Unlike many other sidekicks in escort games, Ellie is smart, takes no nonsense, and can certainly hold her own in battle. Her story only deepens in The Last of Us Part II, as she goes on a mission of revenge, falling into the same morally grey area as Joel did in the first game.
Tommy
Tommy isn’t in The Last of Us for long, but his screen presence is nevertheless memorable. Tommy is Joel’s estranged brother, having moved out west to join the Fireflies following their falling out. He now runs a power plant in Wyoming with his wife. In the HBO The Last of Us show, Tommy is played by Gabriel Luna.
Tommy shares many of Joel’s traits, but he also differs from his brother in many important ways. Perhaps the most important is his willingness to embrace Sarah’s memory, offering Joel a picture of his deceased daughter – a picture that Joel is quick to throw back in his face. Furthermore, his anger and need for vengeance following Joel’s death place Tommy in conjunction with the player during the second game, creating a far more complex version of the character than in the first part of The Last of Us.
Bill
One of the most memorable characters in The Last of Us is Bill, who is played by wonderful character actor W. Earl Brown. Bill is the only inhabitant of Lincoln, having outfitted the small town with numerous booby traps (one of which snags and nearly kills Joel). Bill is an archetypical “survivor” character, but he also has a wonderful sense of depth and dimension.
Falling out with his partner Frank did a lot to harden Bill, and he will do anything to survive in this post-apocalyptic world. There’s not much tenderness within Bill, but then again, this new world doesn’t call for much tenderness. Nick Offerman is bringing Bill to live-action in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Marlene
From a plot perspective, Marlene serves as the leader of the Fireflies. But her role is far more interesting from a thematic point of view. By the end of the story, she serves as a pragmatic opposite of Joel, thereby becoming his main opponent in saving Ellie’s life. Merle Dandridge plays Marlene in the Naughty Dog games as well as the HBO live-action The Last of Us.
Joel dooms the world by killing Marlene, fleeing the Fireflies, and keeping Ellie safe for his own selfish gain. Marlene wishes to sacrifice Ellie so she can study her brain and hopefully develop a cure for the virus. It certainly makes for an interesting dichotomy, as she is willing to sacrifice one life to save the world from themultiple types of Last of Us zombies that ended it.
David
The Last of Us contains a few human antagonists – the most famous of which is David. The world of The Last of Us is a violent, cold, and merciless place, and that is horrifically summarized through David’s character. David initially runs into Ellie at the lakeside resort, offering her medicine in return for her food.
It’s not until later that the truth comes out – David is the leader of a band of cannibals, and they kidnap and kill roaming survivors to use as food. It doesn’t get much worse than that. As one of the most well-spoken antagonists in The Last of Us, David is a truly spine-chilling character. In HBO’s The Last of Us, David will be played by Troy Baker, who voiced Joel in the games.
Sarah
Sarah, Joel’s young daughter from the prologue of the first game, isn’t in The Last of Us for long, but she makes an indelible impression. It’s a testament to the writing of The Last of Us that players know so much about Sarah despite her painful lack of screen time. It’s obvious that Sarah is self-sufficient and independent, a character trait that is largely due to Joel’s taxing work schedule.
It’s also obvious that Sarah loves her father very much, even gifting him an expensive watch for his birthday. Unfortunately, her tragic death is the understandable catalyst for Joel’s personal downfall into violence, depression, and nihilism. Nico Parker plays the live-action Sarah in The Last of Us on HBO.
Henry
Henry largely serves as Joel’s counterpart, protecting his younger brother Sam in a post-apocalyptic world. Henry is obviously less experienced than Joel, and often relies on his help in escaping the more precarious situations. Like Joel, he is very protective of his younger brother, and will seemingly do anything to protect him.
However, Henry and Joel share one major character difference in their ability to carry on and survive. Whereas Joel carries on after Sarah’s death, Henry immediately takes his own life after losing his brother to the virus. Lamar Johnson plays Henry in the HBO The Last of Us show.
Sam
While Henry serves as Joel’s counterpart, Sam serves as Ellie’s. Sam is Henry’s much younger brother, and he is largely at the whims of his older brother’s combat prowess. Unlike Ellie, Sam lacks the skills necessary to prove useful in combat situations. He’s made it into the HBO show though, with Keivonn Woodard in the role.
Sam is also much more childish than Ellie, despite being roughly the same age. This ultimately speaks to their differing experiences: whereas Sam has been protected by his older brother, Ellie has been forced to survive on her own – and, therefore, becomes a more pragmatic and cold-hearted survivalist.
Tess
In a world of cold-hearted survivalists, Tess is perhaps the coldest of them all. She serves as Joel’s smuggling partner and proves to be just as tough and relentless as the protagonist. Her role is small in The Last of Us, but also very important for Joel’s character development. Anna Torv is the live-action Tess in The Last of Us on HBO.
Tess is bitten midway through the game and quickly realizes that Ellie’s immunity is legitimate (as she is more advanced in infection than Ellie, despite her wound being much fresher). She successfully convinces Joel to take on Ellie, and she goes out in an incredibly badass way, ensuring her spot in the memories of Last of Us players everywhere.
Abby
Abby Anderson possesses a highly divisive story arc in The Last of Us Part II, serving as the main human antagonist of the game while, at the same time, becoming a protagonist to one-half of the game’s story. She is the daughter of a doctor killed during Joel’s rampage at the end of The Last of Us and spends the interim between the two games hunting Joel down in a bid for revenge.
Abby’s murder of Joel acts as the inciting incident in The Last of Us Part II, sparking Ellie’s mission of revenge. However, while audiences emphatically hate Abby for her actions, the ensuing storyline shows exactly why she did what she did, forging a far more complex antagonist than any player had expected. Abby has yet to be cast in HBO’s The Last of Us.
Dina
Dina is Ellie’s partner in The Last of Us Part II and a survivor in the town of Jackson. After Joel’s death, she initially helps Ellie in her revenge mission, though even she grows a distaste for their actions during the game. Like with Abby, The Last of Us on HBO doesn’t have its Dina (yet).
Although Dina at first feeds the flames of Ellie’s rage, she eventually comes to see just how quickly she is being consumed with vengeance. After coming to this realization, Dina proves her merit by attempting to talk Ellie down, though she was perhaps not as successful as she might have hoped.
Jesse
Jesse is Ellie and Dina’s friend who they came to know after residing in Jackson. He and Dina follow Ellie after she embarks on a quest to find and kill Abby following Joel’s death, meeting up with her in Seattle. Like many of The Last of Us Part II characters, Jesse doesn’t yet have a live-action actor for The Last of Us on HBO.
Jesse is honest, caring, and selfless in his short screentime in The Last of Us Part II, showing plainly that he has far more integrity than other The Last of Uscharacters. Tragically, he is killed by Abby while trying to help Ellie, though not before his legacy is cemented in the conception of his son, JJ.
Maria
Maria is Tommy’s wife who ran the settlement of Jackson with her father prior to his death before the events of the first game. Though she is initially hesitant to grant Joel and Ellie access to her community given their battle with the Fireflies, Jackson does become the characters’ home base by the events of The Last of Us Part II.
Maria may not have an abundance of screen time in The Last of Us, but she nevertheless leaves an impression on the player. Not only was she able to make a reliable man out of Tommy, but she was also able to run a functioning community in the middle of a decrepit and dying world, which is deserving of endless commendation. Maria’s casting in The Last of Us on HBO hasn’t been revealed, but is rumored to be True Blood‘s Rutina Wesley.
Riley
Riley is a character from Ellie’s past, whose story is explored in greater depth in the “Left Behind” DLC for the first game. Prior to her death, Riley was Ellie’s closest friend and one of the few people that actively seemed to care for her in the post-apocalyptic world. Storm Reid has been cast as Riley in The Last of Us on HBO.
Despite being entirely absent from the events of The Last of Us, Riley’s presence is nevertheless felt in the character of Ellie herself, who clearly picked up many of her survival tactics from her late friend. Riley’s loss also serves as motivation for Ellie, who endeavors, often unsuccessfully, to not lose anyone else close to her.
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