One of the biggest fascinations behind The Last of Us has been the remarkable, eerie, and unique design of the Infected; Naughty Dog's take on zombies in the post-apocalyptic survival series. The story and characters of the games have also been of utmost importance. Recently one artist created a piece showcasing what it would look like if one of the main protagonists of The Last of Us were to "turn," and the results are quite exceptional.
There are certainly beloved characters in The Last of Us, as the series has followed a few key actors between the mainline games and the Last of Us: Left Behind, the stand-alone expansion pack of the original. But among all of the protagonists, Ellie has stood out as perhaps the most important; complex as she may be. With that in mind, one artist decided to alter Ellie's story in a rather drastic way. For those who have not yet played any of the games, there are The Last of Us spoilers ahead. Reader be warned.
Ellie is certainly a fan-favorite character in The Last of Us. She is extremely important to the story of the games because Ellie may have the cure to the Cordyceps Brain Infection that has overtaken the world, due to the fact that she is immune. However, a Reddit artist that goes by u/babuchabri rethought that main narrative plot and created an infected version of Ellie instead.
The artist created a fanart version of Ellie that is quite spectacular to behold. Ellie's character builds in The Last of Us as she fights against the very idea of ever being able to be truly infected. She deals with death and tragedy all around her, and because of this, she struggles with legitimate survivor's guilt and monophobia. There were some complaints about the ending of The Last of Us Part 2, but an ending that left Ellie infected instead would have been quite the plot twist.
Whenever a character became infected in-game, it would always be a heartbreaking moment from a narrative perspective. Meanwhile, the heart-pounding gameplay of outmaneuvering Infected in an attempt to not be overtaken when playing as someone like Joel in the original game is what helped to create that intensity. The Infected in The Last of Us go through horrifying stages, including Runner, Clicker, Bloater, and more. Each of these stages presents different types of challenges to the player. But oftentimes, the worst fear is the idea of simply becoming infected if one of them actually successfully gets the jump on the player. In the case of Ellie, she is safe from that.
The Last of Us 2 is available now for PlayStation 4.