The Last of Us Part II, a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, focuses on two lead characters: Ellie, who sets out for revenge after suffering a great tragedy, and Abby Anderson, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict between her militia and a cult. The switch between the playable characters was a major point of the game's development, based on a similar switch in the original game, 2013's The Last of Us.
Part of the game deals with Ellie's relationship with Joel, the first game's main playable character, who lied to her. Ellie is joined by several companions in the game, including her girlfriend Dina, friend Jesse, and Joel's brother Tommy. Abby is a member of the Washington Liberation Front, which also includes her ex-boyfriend Owen and her friend Manny, and is led by Isaac. Throughout her journey, Abby meets and protects Yara and Lev, siblings from the opposing cult known as the Seraphites.
Creative director Neil Druckmann co-wrote the story and developed the characters of Part II with Halley Gross. The performances were recorded using performance capture, which records motion and voice simultaneously. Actors were given considerable license to improvise or suggest ideas while performing. One of the writers' goals was to create multifaceted characters, especially in Ellie, and they wanted to explore the vulnerabilities of Abby to ensure that the player could empathize with her. The characters received a mixed reception, with acclaim for the performances.
Creation and conception
For The Last of Us Part II, the actors' performances were recorded at a studio in Playa Vista, Los Angeles using performance capture, recording motion and voice simultaneously. The actors wore motion capture suits and head-mounted cameras that track facial muscles and eye movements. Recording ran from 2017 to April 2019. The actors were allowed to improvise or suggest ideas while performing; he said that he would do "20 or 30 takes if need be". Co-writer Halley Gross noted that a goal of the writers was to "create the most multifaceted characters you've seen in games". She particularly wanted to explore the multifaceted behavior of Ellie, showing her power as well as her insecurities. She wanted the story to show that "there are no heroes or villains". Writer and director Neil Druckmann found that all three playable characters—Joel in the first game, and Ellie and Abby in Part II—mirror each other as they are all suffering with overcoming trauma and "quietening their demons".
The change of player character from Ellie to Abby was inspired by the change from Joel to Ellie in the first game, though emphasized in Part II due to its focus on empathy. Druckmann found that players acted differently when forced to play as Ellie in the first game, and wanted to replicate a similar change with Abby in Part II. Druckmann was also inspired by the character switch of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), which had been suppressed in that game's marketing. The writers experimented with interspersing Ellie and Abby's gameplay sections, but ultimately settled on longer segments. Druckmann found that Ellie's attempt for revenge was mirrored by Abby, who had already achieved it by avenging her father. Early playtests of the final fight led to confusion regarding Ellie's decision to spare Abby; the editorial team suggested adding a flash of Joel playing guitar, which Druckmann felt was an effective balance between explicit and implicit motivation. For more than half of production, Ellie killed Abby in the game's conclusion, and would return to the farm and be tortured but spared by a relative of somebody Ellie killed. Druckmann felt that this was thematically relevant, but realized that it focused too heavily on the themes rather than characters; after conversations about Yara and Lev, they found that it felt dishonest and that Ellie still had some goodness. Druckmann wanted players to support both characters in the final fight, and realize how futile it is.
Lead characters Ellie
Ellie (Ashley Johnson) is a primary playable character in The Last of Us Part II. Two years after the events of the first game, Ellie returned to the Firefly hospital and learned the truth from Joel. The main plot of Part II takes place two years later, where Ellie and Joel have built a life in Jackson, though it is evident their relationship is still strained. Ellie and her girlfriend Dina leave Jackson in search of Joel and Tommy. Ellie enters the Washington Liberation Front (WLF) camp to witness Abby Anderson beat Joel to death, and swears revenge. Ellie and Dina head to the WLF base in Seattle, where Tommy has gone. After escaping a WLF ambush, the pair retreat to a theater, where Ellie reveals her immunity for Cordyceps fungus to Dina and learns that Dina is pregnant. The next day, with Dina sick, Ellie pursues Tommy alone and encounters Dina's ex-boyfriend Jesse, who has followed them to Seattle. Evading the Seraphites, a cult fighting the WLF for control of Seattle, Ellie tracks another WLF member, Nora Harris, to a hospital, and tortures her for information.
The next day, Jesse leaves to pursue Tommy, and Ellie heads to Abby's hideout at an aquarium. After a struggle, Ellie kills Abby's allies, the pregnant Mel and her boyfriend Owen Moore. Returning to the theater, Ellie, Dina, Jesse and Tommy are ambushed by Abby, who kills Jesse and shoots Tommy. She overpowers Ellie and Dina, but spares them and warns them to leave. Some time later, Ellie and Dina are living on a farm, taking care of Dina's baby, but Ellie suffers from posttraumatic stress. When Tommy arrives with information on Abby's whereabouts, Ellie leaves for Santa Barbara to kill her, despite Dina's pleas. She is injured in a trap but escapes and rescues Abby and Lev, who have been weakened by weeks of torture. Threatening to kill Lev, Ellie forces Abby to fight her. Ellie overpowers her, losing two fingers in the process, but lets her live. Ellie returns to the farmhouse and finds it empty. She plays Joel's guitar, recalls her promise to Joel to try to forgive him, and leaves.
For her portrayal as the primary playable character, Johnson took lessons she learned working with Baker on the first game. Johnson considered her own experiences with anxiety, and researched the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder with Druckmann. Ellie's excitement for astronomy was based on Johnson's own interests, while her obsession with comics is based on Druckmann's childhood. Gross felt that Ellie's decision to track down Abby was motivated by her desire to overcome her PTSD more than her desire to kill Abby. Gross, who has suffered twice from PTSD, considered it her responsibility to accurately depict the subject matter. The writers wanted to deconstruct the perception of violence in Joel and Ellie: while Joel is indifferent and practical, Ellie kills to maintain a "culture of honor" by attaching violence to her ego. Some of the team considered Ellie's obsession with Abby akin to a drug addiction, and that Dina left as she felt that the obsession would never end. Johnson received acclaim for her performance, and she was nominated for several awards.
Bella Ramsey portrays Ellie in HBO's television adaptation of The Last of Us.
Abby
Abigail "Abby" Anderson (Laura Bailey) is a primary playable character in Part II. Her father, Jerry Anderson, was a Firefly surgeon who Joel killed at the end of the first game to save Ellie. Four years later, in her early twenties, she tracks Joel down and beats him to death. Some time later, back in Seattle, Abby learns that her ex-boyfriend Owen has gone missing while investigating the Seraphites. The WLF leader, Isaac Dixon, believes he may have defected, and plans to assault the Seraphites' island settlement. Searching for Owen, Abby is captured and witnesses the Seraphites shatter the arm of a runaway Seraphite, Yara. After being rescued by Yara's younger brother Lev, they arrive at the aquarium, where Abby finds Owen. He plans to sail to Santa Barbara, where the Fireflies were supposedly regrouping. Yara's arm requires amputation, so Abby and Lev retrieve medical supplies from the hospital, which is overrun by Infected. Lev runs away to the Seraphite settlement to convince their mother to leave the cult. Abby and Yara pursue him, fending off an attack from Tommy.
At the settlement, they discover Lev has killed his devout mother in self-defense. As the WLF attack the settlement, Yara kills Isaac and sacrifices herself to let Abby and Lev escape. Abby and Lev return to the aquarium to find Owen and his pregnant girlfriend Mel killed and a map leading to Ellie's theater hideout. At the theater, Abby kills Jesse, shoots Tommy, and overpowers Ellie and Dina. Learning that Dina is pregnant, Abby spares them at Lev's insistence and warns them to leave. Some time later, Abby and Lev arrive in Santa Barbara searching for the Fireflies, but are captured by the Rattlers, slave-keeping bandits. After being weakened by weeks of torture, they are rescued by Ellie. Threatening to kill Lev, Ellie forces Abby to fight her. Ellie overpowers her, but lets her live. Abby sails away with Lev towards the Firefly base on Catalina Island.
Abby is described as having a "commanding presence", with her physical build reflecting the years of training and combat. Her design underwent several iterations, with the goal to portray her as "capable, utilitarian, and strong". Druckmann wanted to avoid casting Bailey due to her proliferation of roles, but was impressed with her audition tape in how she had played into Abby's vulnerability. Bailey worked out in preparation for the role, and gave birth to her first son during production. She prepared by researching people involved in wars and their coping mechanisms. Abby's face is based on Jocelyn Mettler, a visual effects artist who formerly worked at Naughty Dog, while her body was based on athlete Colleen Fotsch. Abby's character was well-received, though her playable chapters were controversial among players, and Bailey became the target of online death threats; some critics felt that the character had been unfairly maligned, and that criticisms of her muscular physique was a result of the lack of body diversity in games. Bailey received acclaim for her performance; she won accolades at the British Academy Games Awards, the Game Awards, and the NAVGTR Awards.
Kaitlyn Dever portrays Abby in the second and third seasons of the television adaptation.
Joel
Joel Miller (Troy Baker) is Ellie's surrogate father, and the primary playable protagonist of the first game. In the prologue to The Last of Us Part II, Joel confesses his guilt to his brother Tommy. Flashbacks in the game reveal Joel taking Ellie on a birthday trip to a museum, and him finally admitting the truth to her when she travels to the hospital. Four years after the first game, Joel and Ellie have built a life in Jackson, though their relationship is strained due to Ellie finding out the truth. While on patrol, Joel and Tommy save Abby, a stranger, from Infected and they escape a large horde, returning to an outpost run by Abby's group. Joel and Tommy are attacked by Abby's group, revealed to be ex-Fireflies who are now part of the WLF, a militia group based in Seattle. Ellie finds them but is assaulted and watches helplessly as Abby beats Joel to death.