Living in a post-apocalyptic nightmare world where fungus monsters want to eat you (and some other survivors also want to eat you) must be draining. It’d take its toll on a fella. You probably wouldn’t be as cheery.
It makes sense that most of the characters in The Last of Us are miserable. Joel trudges along with a dour look on his face, wearing the smashed watch his dead daughter bought him (before she was dead). Frank is holed up in a town all by himself, surrounded by homemade traps, pining for his dead lover. Ellie carries the world on her back, believing she might be the key to humanity’s salvation.
It’s a lot. I can admit that.
Despite them all being miserable, Naughty Dog crafted multi-dimensional characters with fears, hobbies, hopes, and dreams. But this is the internet, so I’m going to pit them in a battle to see which one is the definitive best. Apocalypse rules, biting and scratching allowed.
Isaac (The worst TLOU Part 2 character)
Isaac's performance is good, but he doesn't get enough time to shine.
You’re probably thinking, “Who the Hell is Isaac?” And that’s kind of the point. Played by the brilliant Jeffrey Wright, Isaac was menacing but underutilized, to the point where the story would have worked without him. He even dies off-screen. It’ll be interesting to see how the TV show expands on his role, with Jeffrey Wright confirmed to play Isaac again in The Last of Us Season 2.
Owen
Look at Owen's annoying face.
Owen should be one of the most likable characters in this game. He consistently calls for mercy, refuses to kill unarmed enemies, and he’s the reason Ellie doesn’t die alongside Joel at the start of the game. But I can’t deal with his smarmy, cheating face. Screw you and your stupid face, Owen.
Manny
Even giving me a burrito isn't enough to save Manny.
Most players don’t like Manny because he spits on Joel as he’s dying, but that’s childish. You should dislike him because he’s dull, even with a fair effort from the writers to make him endearing. If you pay attention, you’ll find out he spends his free time, when not womanizing, caring for his sick father and making sure he gets the treatment he needs. Still, it’s not enough. I see what you were doing, Halley Gross and Neil Druckmann. Your little magic spells don’t work on me.
Yara
Hunted by her own people, Yara will do anything for her brother.
I like Yara a lot. Victoria Grace plays a loyal protector to her brother, who was ousted from their religious community for revealing their trans identity. Yara risked her life to save him, going against their faith and community to keep him safe. She also holds complex thoughts about religion, with pragmatic views about divine intervention versus the cruel reality of the real world. If she got a bit more screen time, she’d be much higher up the list.
Joel
Look sad about it all you want, Joel, but this is your fault.
Everything bad that happens in this story is Joel’s fault. He bottled up his trauma for so long that it came out in a tsunami, washing everything and everyone he knew away. The people of this world are worried about the cordyceps virus, but Joel’s trauma has infected and killed just as many people as the mushroom zombies. He might have done it all for love, but that’s just another way of saying he did it all for himself. A complex character, but deeply cursed.
Jesse
Hand on hip, leaning on the door frame, just found out his ex has moved on - chad.
He’s just a chad. Jesse has some of the best lines in the game, including a tasteful joke about his ethnicity. You also have to give him props for being cool about Ellie hooking up with his ex, Dina. Just the most chill, laid-back dude in the apocalypse. Shame he’s dead.
Dina
Dina is the angel on Ellie's shoulder.
Played by the excellent Shannon Woodward, Dina wants retribution just as much as Ellie, but she’s smart enough to know when to cut your losses. It doesn’t matter what she sees or does, what this world makes her do, her quick wit and verve for life never fade. You also have to respect how she takes no crap. If she gives you an ultimatum, she means it. She’ll be gone from your dreamy little farmhouse when you return from your little revenge mission.
Tommy
This is the moment when Tommy begins to slide.
Tommy has a bit of Joel in him, but there’s a human soul behind his eyes. At least at the start of the story, when his hope hasn’t been snuffed out. He lives for the Jackson community and he wants to help people, but he’s dragged into conflict because of his brother’s choices. Actor Jeffrey Pierce does an incredible job of getting that quiet optimism across early on, and you can’t help but feel for him by the end when his body is broken and his remaining eye burns only with hatred.
Lev
With Yara's arm broken, Lev becomes the protector. But could he have done it alone?
Yara’s brother, Lev is a lot more naive about the state of the wider world, but he takes to Abby as a mentor, mirroring Ellie’s journey with Joel in the first game. Lev is completely innocent and you just want to keep him safe. Actor Ian Alexander plays Lev with true authenticity thanks to his lived experiences as a trans man, and I also appreciate how he gets across Lev’s literal interpretations of language – it sells Lev’s innocence without undermining his strength.
Ellie
The little girl we ferried across the US isn't there anymore.
Ellie might be immune to the cordyceps, but she’s been severely infected by the Joel-dyceps. Ashley Johnson does an incredible job of expanding Ellie’s character as she crab-walks into adulthood, and The Last of Us Part 2 lets us see her as a person, removed from the violence, on more than one occasion. From the museum flashback to the hidden weed stash, Part 2 shows us Ellie at her most vulnerable and human, and then it tears it all down and puts her on a tunnel-visioned path of revenge. By the end, there’s little of the Ellie we know even left. In body and spirit, she’s less. It’s depressing, but it’s excellent character work as she becomes patient zero for the trauma virus.
Abby (The best TLOU Part 2 character)
Abby has been training all her life to batter people with tools and sports gear.
Laura Bailey put in the performance of a lifetime with Abby. The goal of art is to make us feel things, to reflect on ourselves as people, and to see things from another perspective. The Last of Us Part 2 does all that and then some, and most of that reflection is down to Abby. It didn’t work for everyone, but I was rooting for her by the time the credits rolled, and I was furious at Ellie. You also gotta respect a lady who’s got this much drive (yes, that’s a golf joke).
