Characters of The Last of Us

In addition, Joel's daughter Sarah appears in the game's prologue, and Ellie's friend Riley Abel is featured in the downloadable content pack The Last of Us: Left Behind.

A team at Naughty Dog designed the character appearances, and creative director Neil Druckmann was the main writer of their personalities and mannerisms.

The relationship between the characters of Joel and Ellie, portrayed by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, respectively, was the central focus of the game's development.

[1] Though the development team quickly felt that Johnson fit the role of Ellie, they spent more time selecting the actor of Joel, as the chemistry between the two characters was imperative to the game.

After Baker and Johnson played alongside each other, the team realized that the former perfectly fit the role of Joel, despite the actor's young age.

[11][12] Twenty years after Sarah's death, Joel works as a smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone with his friend and partner Tess.

While out searching for a former accomplice who stole some of their merchandise, Joel and Tess are tasked by Marlene, an acquaintance and the leader of a rebel militia called the Fireflies, to smuggle Ellie to a rendezvous point.

Upon their arrival, Tess reveals she has sustained a bite on the journey and insists Joel find Tommy, a former Firefly, in order to continue the mission.

Ultimately, Joel shows his devotion to Ellie when he chooses to rescue her from the doctors who plan to remove and examine her brain, as opposed to allowing her to die.

[14]: 10  When writing the character of Joel, Druckmann initially took inspiration from Josh Brolin's portrayal of Llewelyn Moss in No Country for Old Men (2007), which he saw as "very quiet, very cool under pressure".

The development team aimed for Tommy's physical appearance to resemble Joel "in stature and rugged toughness", but also to express his compassionate approach to the world.

[27] Marlene (Merle Dandridge) is the leader of the Fireflies, a militia movement hoping to wrest military occupation of the Quarantine Zones and restore government control.

After being wounded in Boston, she offers to sell Joel and Tess the merchandise Robert stole from them and sold to her in return for smuggling Ellie out of the Quarantine Zone.

The team aimed for Marlene's physical design to make her look "capable and in control", while conveying compassion, to result in players believing she does care for Ellie.

[14]: 47  Dandridge found the character of Marlene to be complex, believing she "wants to do the best thing for the greater good", but events in her life have resulted in a confused moral standing.

As soldiers arrive at the building, Tess orders Joel, as a last obligation to her, to find Tommy and get Ellie to the Fireflies, before sending them off while she covers them.

When designing the physical appearance of Tess, the team aimed to make her look "tough and capable", striving to add an element of strength in order to show she might be more ruthless than Joel.

However, the team found it difficult to believe Tess would dispute with Joel and pursue him for a year; this was solved by majorly altering the story.

A paranoid, aggressive, and distrustful man in his late 40s, Bill lives alone in a heavily fortified town, laden with his traps that include some captured Infected.

[35] Bill was played by Nick Offerman in the HBO television adaptation; Con O'Neill was cast in the role but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

[36] Henry (Brandon Scott) and Sam (Nadji Jeter) are brothers Ellie and Joel encounter while trying to escape from a group of hunters in Pittsburgh.

[14]: 86  After Brandon Scott was chosen to portray Henry, the team only showed him some artistic sketches of the game, avoiding specific details about the story.

[39][40][41] David (Nolan North) is the leader of a group of cannibals Ellie encounters at the Lakeside Resort, where she is sheltering Joel while he recovers from a grievous wound.

Eventually, he manages to pin her down and tries to strangle her, but she catches hold of his machete and swings it, knocking him off her, and brutally hacks him to death before Joel arrives and pulls her off.

David's physical posture and gestures were specifically designed to suggest a warm and caring nature, making players believe his acceptance to welcome Ellie to his community.

[14]: 105  Veteran voice actor Nolan North, who portrays protagonist Nathan Drake in Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, was chosen to play the role of David.

The team felt Sarah's physical appearance should feel authentic, displaying her relationship with Joel, while simultaneously establishing her as a distinct character.

[57] IGN's Colin Moriarty called the voice acting "consistently superb",[63] and Matt Helgeson of Game Informer felt the actors realistically "convey the heavy emotional toll placed on each character".

[65] Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton remarked the actors "have an uncommon chemistry and fearlessly tackle their roles", praising their delivery of the emotional material.

Jason Killingsworth of Edge praised its lack of sexualized female characters, writing it "offers a refreshing antidote to the sexism and regressive gender attitudes of most blockbuster videogames".

Artwork of a teenage girl, with brown hair. She has a backpack, with a sniper rifle strapped to her side, and is standing beside a man in his 40's, who has brown hair and beard, and a revolver in his right hand.
The two lead characters of The Last of Us , Ellie (left) and Joel (right) in a promotional image for the game
A 35-year-old man with curly black hair talking into a microphone, looking at something to the left of the camera.
Neil Druckmann worked as the creative director on The Last of Us , writing the game's story and developing the characters.
A 34-year-old man with spiky blonde hair, smiling at something to the left of the camera.
Veteran voice actor Troy Baker was cast as Joel due to his voice and movement. [ 1 ]
A 30-year-old woman with long, blonde hair, smiling at someone to the right of the camera.
Ashley Johnson was excited to portray Ellie as she felt video games rarely feature such strong female characters. [ 1 ]
49-year-old man with slick gray and a gray beard smiling at the camera.
Jeffrey Pierce auditioned for the role of Joel, but was eventually cast as Tommy. [ 25 ]
A 44-year-old black woman with long, brown hair and blonde streaks, looking at something to the left of the camera.
Merle Dandridge portrayed Marlene. [ 28 ]
A 31-year-old woman with long, brown hair, smiling with her head tilted at someone holding a microphone to the left of the camera.
Annie Wersching portrayed Tess. [ 16 ]
A 47-year-old man with short, gray hair, smiling at the camera with his head tilted.
W. Earl Brown portrayed Bill.
Nadji Jeter portrayed Sam.
A 44-year-old man with short, brown hair, talking into a microphone, and smiling to the right of the camera.
Veteran voice actor Nolan North was cast as David in The Last of Us . North portrayed protagonist Nathan Drake in Naughty Dog's Uncharted series. [ 1 ]