Ellie (The Last of Us)

"After all we've been through… Everything that I've done… It can't be for nothing."

- Ellie to Joel.

Ellie is the secondary playable character of The Last of Us and the protagonist of American Dreams and Left Behind. A fourteen-year-old survivor, Ellie is "mature beyond her years" as a result of the circumstances of her environment. She is voiced and mo-capped by Ashley Johnson.

Personality an Traits
Having been raised in an environment where modern standards and values have deteriorated, Ellie is considerably rash, impulsive, and temperamental, and isn't fazed by the notion of using violence as a means to an end or profanity as a way of expressing how she feels. However, she manages to maintain a particular innocence as she has yet to see the darkest sides of human nature and retains a palpable trust in people. This serves as the juxtaposition to Joel's wary, morose outlook on post-pandemic life. She apologized to the soldier scanning her for stabbing him and hoped to prevent him and Ramirez from harming her with non-lethal means.

Ellie is also perceptibly clever and witty, and will do whatever it takes to keep Joel and herself alive. She takes orders from Joel, but all the while makes it clear she does not "need any babysitting at all".

Ellie is enthusiastic about the outside world, given her confinement to her quarantine zone during her childhood. She is obsessed with things she collects from others, illustrated through her interest in music, movies, books, and video games. She frequently remarks her amusement upon finding interesting collectibles throughout her trip, which often clashes with Joel's physical indifference.

Ellie seems to adhere to no religion, as seen when she claims that she goes "back and forth" when asked by Sam if she believes in an afterlife. She says that she would like to believe it, but admits "I … guess not."

Ellie also suffers from a case of monophobia (fear of being alone) and states to Sam that she fears losing others she cares about such as Joel. The cause of this case is possibly related to her estranged parents and the deaths of her best friend, Riley, and hired guardian, Tess. Coincidentally, both were victims of the fungus and both had gotten infected while in her company. Soon after admitting her fear to him, Sam joins the list.

Ellie showed difficulties in positioning herself as a young kid in an adults' eyes, and sometimes even tends to "supervise" adults. She also takes "justice" into her own hands on her relationship with anyone, and does not think she requires any adults' consent. This self-parenting trait is related to her time spent in an orphanage, where she had learned to fend for herself. An example is when Joel falls on an iron rod. Though not shown, she takes Joel (by horse) to an abandoned mall in order to find supplies to stitch his wound up. Afterwards she takes him to an abandoned house on a pulley attached to her horse and continues to nurse him back to health, while at the same time getting them food, and medicine from David.