The actors were given considerable license to improvise the lines and influence character personality, simultaneously performing the motion capture work for their characters. 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.Ī team at Naughty Dog designed the character appearances, and creative director Neil Druckmann was the main writer of their personalities and mannerisms.

Throughout their journey, Joel and Ellie meet various characters: Tess, a survivor who is closely acquainted with Joel Marlene, leader of the militia group the Fireflies Bill, a survivor who fortified his own town Henry and Sam, brothers from Hartford Joel's brother, Tommy, and his wife, Maria, who have built their own settlement and David, the leader of a group of cannibals. Joel is the primary playable character of the game, though players assume control of Ellie for a short portion. The relationship between the two characters became the basis of the game's development. Joel is tasked with escorting Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States in an attempt to create a potential cure against an infection to which Ellie is immune. The Last of Us, a 2013 action-adventure survival horror video game developed by Naughty Dog, deals with the relationship between smuggler Joel, and Ellie. The two lead characters of The Last of Us, Ellie (left) and Joel (right) in a promotional image for the game

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