Ellie (The Last of Us)

American actress Ashley Johnson portrayed Ellie in The Last of Us.

Creative director Neil Druckmann designed Ellie as a counterpart to Joel, the game's main playable character.[1] She was also intended to demonstrate that a character bond could be created entirely through gameplay. Druckmann described the game as a coming of age story for Ellie, in which she adopts the qualities of a survivor.[2] Ashley Johnson was chosen to portray Ellie in The Last of Us shortly after her auditions;[3] the development team felt that she fit the role, particularly when acting alongside Troy Baker, who portrayed Joel. Johnson made important contributions to Ellie's character development. She convinced Druckmann to give Ellie a more independent personality, and to make her more successful in combat.[4] As Ellie, Johnson's performances were mostly recorded using motion capture technology which produced approximately 85% of the game's animations. The remaining audio elements were recorded later in a studio.[5] When portraying Ellie, Johnson was sometimes uncomfortable while performing "disturbing" scenes.[4] However, she was excited to play a rare example of a strong female video game character.[6]

The various iterations that Ellie's physical appearance underwent throughout development. Each design was tested with various hair colors and styles.[7]

The gameplay concept for Ellie began with an unused idea Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009). Druckmann and Straley conceived a sequence with a mute female character who would accompany Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake; Druckmann felt this would create a "beautiful" relationship through gameplay alone.[2] Ellie's artificial intelligence (AI) required significant overhauling of the game engine.[8] The team had her stay close to Joel, to avoid being viewed by players as a burden.[9] AI programmer Max Dyckhoff stated that, to ensure the character made realistic decisions during gameplay, he would consider "what she was going through" and "what her relationship with Joel and the enemies would be".[9] Druckmann was also inspired by wars that took place in Syria and Afghanistan; he felt that, like Ellie, conflict was familiar to the children in those countries.[10] During the winter segment, players assume control of Ellie. The developers ensured that this change, as well as the knowledge of Ellie's immunity, was kept secret prior to the game's release to surprise players.[1]

The development team felt that establishing Ellie's physical appearance was "critical". They determined that she needed to appear young enough to make her relationship with Joel—who is in his 40s[11]—believable, but old enough to be credible as a resourceful teenager capable of surviving.[12] The team considered Ellie important for the game's marketing; Druckmann said that, when asked to move the image of Ellie from the front of the game's packaging to the back, "everyone at Naughty Dog just flat-out refused".[13] An early alternative name for the character was Lily; Druckmann chose Ellie as he had considered the name for his daughter.[14]

Following the announcement of The Last of Us, comparisons were made between Ellie and actress Ellen Page. In June 2013, Page said that Naughty Dog had "ripped off" her likeness and that it was "not appreciated" as she was acting in another game, Beyond: Two Souls (2013).[15] Game director Bruce Straley said Naughty Dog had no knowledge of her involvement in Beyond,[16] which was announced several months after The Last of Us.[17] Kotaku observed that some players would likely confuse the two characters.[15] Straley said that, following the comparisons, Naughty Dog revised Ellie's appearance because "we want our characters to stand on their own two feet".[16] The redesign was revealed in a trailer in May 2012; Druckmann and Straley stated said the change was made to better resemble Johnson and reflect her personality, as well as to look younger.[16] [18]

A fourteen-year-old survivor, Ellie is "mature beyond her years" as a result of the circumstances of her environment. Ellie is characterized as "[s]trong, witty, and a little rough around the edges."[19] Her emotional trauma is accentuated after her encounter with David.[20][21] Having lost many people in her life, she suffers from severe monophobia and survivor's guilt.[22] This results in her becoming a very hardened person; she uses violence without hesitation[23][24][25] and frequently swears.[26] Ellie also feels worthless, believing her life is a burden, and that her death would be beneficial for others.[27] While she shows initiative, she is not as adept at survival as Joel, being somewhat impulsive and naïve,[10][28] and unable to swim.[29] Despite this, she displays great physical resilience, emotional strength and complete fearlessness, as demonstrated by her ability to look after both herself and Joel when he is severely injured. She constantly perseveres in the face of the many often dire situations that her travels put her through.[30][31]

Left Behind features a scene in which Ellie kisses her friend Riley, suggesting that she is either gay or bisexual. After the game was released, Druckmann said that he wrote Ellie as a gay character, though he preferred to leave the subject of her sexuality up to players to decide.[32]

Ellie's mother was forced to give her up shortly after she was born, and she was initially raised by Marlene, who was a friend of Ellie's mother. She later attends a military boarding school in the Boston quarantine zone, where she befriends Riley Abel, a fellow rebel who protects her from bullies, as depicted in the comic book series The Last of Us: American Dreams.[33] During the events of Left Behind, which take place several weeks before the beginning of The Last of Us, Riley returns to Ellie after a long absence and tells her that she has joined the Fireflies, a revolutionary militia group. While spending time together at an abandoned shopping mall near the quarantine zone, Riley reveals that she is about to be posted to another city, and Ellie hesitantly supports her decisions. Riley abandons her Firefly pendant when Ellie pleads for her to remain. In response, she impulsively kisses Riley who happily responds. Drawn by the noise of their activities, the Infected pursue Ellie and Riley. They attempt to escape, but are bitten. The pair considers suicide, but chooses to spend their final hours together.[34] However, Ellie survives the infection and seeks help from Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies. She agrees to escort Ellie as she tries to find a cure thanks to her immunity to the Infected. Marlene is later wounded, and early in The Last of Us, assigns Joel the task of escorting Ellie.[35]

Initially annoyed by Joel's surliness, Ellie begins to feel a strong attachment to him. However, upon learning that he intends to leave her with his brother Tommy and return to Boston, she runs away. She later confronts him demanding that he not abandon her. This strengthens the bond between them, and they continue their journey. After experiencing a traumatizing encounter in the Winter, where Ellie is nearly raped and murdered by a band of cannibals and their leader David, she becomes withdrawn and introverted. When Joel finally gets her to the Fireflies, it is discovered that Ellie requires an operation to remove the mutant strain of the Cordyceps fungus growing on her brain, which may be used to create a vaccine; the operation will likely kill her. While she is being prepared for surgery, Joel kills Marlene and the Fireflies, makes his way to the operating room, and carries Ellie to safety.[35] Because she was unconscious during the battle, Ellie is unaware of what has transpired. As they leave the hospital, Joel lies about the events, telling her that the Fireflies had found many other subjects, and had stopped looking for a cure.[25] When Ellie later confronts him about it, describing her survivor's guilt and demanding to know the truth, Joel reassures her that he is telling the truth; she replies "Okay".[35]

While at first Ellie and Joel live in Tommy's peaceful community in Jackson, Wyoming, the former is left traumatized and enraged after witnessing Joel being beaten to death by a woman named Abby, the daughter of a Firefly surgeon that Joel killed while saving Ellie. Seeking revenge, Ellie goes with Tommy, her girlfriend Dina, and friend Jesse to Seattle to exact revenge on Abby, who is part of a large group known as the Washington Liberation Front, currently at war with a cult of religious fanatics called the Seraphites. Along the way, Ellie reveals her immunity to Dina, who in turn reveals she is pregnant. After Ellie kills several members of Abby's group, the latter confronts them, kills Jesse, and shoots Tommy before overpowering Ellie and Dina, warning them to leave Seattle. Months later, Ellie is living on a farm with Dina, looking after the latter's baby, until Tommy arrives with news on Abby's wherabouts. Still suffering posttraumatic stress disorder from Joel's death and unable to leave her past behind, Ellie finds and confronts Abby, saving her from a group of bandits who captured her, before overpowering her. However, she cannot bring herself to kill her and lets her go, later returning to the farm, only to find it empty. Recalling a recent memory where she promised to try to forgive Joel after learning he lied, Ellie leaves Joel's guitar at the farmhouse and walks away.[36]

Ellie's character received generally positive feedback. Jason Killingsworth of Edge praised Ellie's complexity and commended Naughty Dog for not having made her "a subordinate ... precocious teen girl that Joel must babysit".[37] Ashley Reed and Andy Hartup of GamesRadar named Ellie one of the "most inspirational female characters in games", writing that she is "one of the most modern, realistic characters ever designed".[38] Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson commended the character's strength and vulnerability, praising the game's subversion of the damsel in distress cliché.[39] GamesRadar listed Ellie among the best characters of the video game generation, stating that her courage exceeds that of most male characters.[40] IGN's Greg Miller compared Ellie to Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite (2013), and felt that the former was a "much more rounded out, full-fledged" character.[41] Conversely, Game Informer's Kimberley Wallace felt that the game focused too much on Joel, "hardly capitalizing on Ellie's importance",[42] and Chris Suellentrop of The New York Times judged that Ellie is cast "in a secondary, more subordinate role".[43]

Critics praised the relationship between Ellie and Joel. Matt Helgeson of Game Informer wrote that the relationship was "poignant" and "well-drawn",[44] Joystiq's Richard Mitchell found it "genuine" and emotional,[45] and IGN's Colin Moriarty identified it as a highlight of the game.[46] Eurogamer's Oli Welsh felt the characters were developed with "real patience and skill".[47] Philip Kollar of Polygon found the relationship was assisted by the game's optional conversations.[48] Wallace of Game Informer named Joel and Ellie one of the "best gaming duos of 2013", appreciating their interest in protecting each other.[49] Game Informer's Kyle Hilliard compared Joel and Ellie's relationship to that of the Prince and Elika from Prince of Persia (2008), writing that both duos care deeply for one another, and praising the "emotional crescendo" in The Last of Us, which he judged had not been achieved in Prince of Persia.[50] PlayStation Official Magazine's David Meikleham named Joel and Ellie the best characters in a PlayStation 3 game.[51]

Following the release of The Last of Us: Left Behind, Ellie's relationship with Riley was commended by reviewers. GameSpot's Tom McShea felt a new appreciation for Ellie by seeing her actions around Riley.[28] The Daily Telegraph's Tim Martin praised the characters' interactions,[52] and Eurogamer's Stace Harman felt that Left Behind improves the understanding of Joel and Ellie's relationship.[53] Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton described Ellie and Riley's kiss as "video gaming's latest breakthrough moment", declaring it "a big deal".[54] Keza MacDonald of IGN wrote that the kiss was "so beautiful and natural and funny that [she] was left dumbstruck".[55] IGN's Luke Karmali questioned Naughty Dog's motivation behind the kiss, noting the "bait-and-switch" in which they made players care for the character before revealing her sexuality, but ultimately dismissed this and commended the handling of Ellie's sexuality and the subtlety of the writing.[56] Polygon's Colin Campbell named Ellie and Riley among the best video game characters of the 2010s, citing their differences and eventual closeness.[57]

The character of Ellie won year-end awards, including Best New Character from Hardcore Gamer[58] and Most Valuable Character at the SXSW Gaming Awards for Left Behind;[59] she received a nomination for Best Character from Destructoid.[60] Ashley Johnson's performance also received various accolades: Best Performer at the 10th and 11th British Academy Video Games Awards,[61][62] Outstanding Character Performance the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards,[63] Lead Performance in a Drama at the 13th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards,[64] Best Voice Actress at the Spike VGX 2013,[65] and Best Performer from The Daily Telegraph.[66]