Ellie Williams (The Last of Us) (2024)

Ellie Williams is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Joel Miller) of the video game franchise, The Last of Us. She is the deuteragonist of the 2013 video game The Last of Us, and one of the two main protagonists (alongside Abby Anderson) of its 2020 sequel The Last of Us Part II.

A nineteen-year-old survivor, Ellie is "mature beyond her years" as a result of the circ*mstances of her environment, and after being bitten by an infected, is revealed to be immune to the Cordyceps.

She was voiced and motion-captured by Ashley Johnson in the video games who also voiced Terra in Teen Titans (2003) and Teen Titans Go!, Jinmay from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Gwen Tennyson in Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Ben 10: Omniverse, Renet Tilley in TMNT 2012, Tulip Olsen and Lake in Infinity Train, Petra in Minecraft: Story Mode, and Gretchen Grundler in Recess.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Ellie was born between January and April of 2019 to an Unnamed Man and Anna, during the fungal epidemic that was spreading across America. Anna entrusted Marlene to protect and watch over Ellie when she died, but Ellie would meet Marlene when she was thirteen years old. Ellie grew up in the Military Quarantine Zone of Boston, Massachusetts, and didn't learn of the previous life before the epidemic.

American Dreams[]

Going to the Boston quarantine zone, Ellie was saved by a girl named Riley after a group of boys tried to steal her belongings. The two quickly became friends, and Ellie also met Riley's friend Winston, an older man who tells her of his childhood before the outbreak. She then met Marlene, who informs Ellie that her mother's name was Anna, and gives her Anna's switchblade after ordering her and Riley to return to the school. Ellie and Riley would have frequently arguments and eventually parted ways on bad terms, as Riley disappeared from the school for weeks. She was then drafted into the military, and believed that Riley either ran away or was killed trying.

Left Behind[]

Six weeks later, Ellie reunited with Riley, who informs the former that she had become a member of the Fireflies and wants Ellie to come with her. Riley tells Ellie that she became a member after they first met Marlene, and the two explore a mall and play numerous games with each other. Though the two have a good time, Riley reveals that she won't be returning if she goes with the Fireflies, promoting Ellie to tell her not to go. Riley decides not to, and the two attacked by infected who were drawn there by the music they played from the walk-man. The two escape and defeat the infected, but are bitten and question whatever to commit suicide or stay alive and try to survive long enough before they succumbed to the infection.

Riley later succumbed to the infection and was presumably put down, as Ellie realized she was immune to the infection after surviving the bite and not showing symptoms. Marlene then took Ellie under her wing, and devised a plan to travel to Salt Lake City to reverse-engineer a vaccine to save humanity from the infection. Ellie agreed with Marlene's plan to travel to the Firefly hospital, possibly out of survivor's guilt of Riley's death.

The Last of Us[]

Three weeks later, an injured Marlene returns with two smugglers named Joel and Tess, and decides to send the two to take Ellie to the Firefly hospital in Salt Lake City. Though Ellie is resistant at first since she doesn't know them, she agrees as Joel takes her to his hospital as Tess and Marlene check the guns they were promised by Robert. During their journey, the group are stopped by the military, who apprehend them and start to check for infection. Ellie panics and stabs one of them, leading to Joel and Tess to kill the rest and learn that she is infected. She explains that she is immune, showing the bite that is three weeks old, but Joel refuses to believe her. The group are then forced to run away as another patrol arrives.

After dealing with infected, the group reaches to the rendezvous at the capitol building, but discover that the Fireflies were killed by the military. Tess reveals that she is infected and demands that they leave so she can buy them time, and Ellie is left guilt-ridden since she discovered that Tess was infected. Joel decides to travel to Lincoln to meet with Bill, a mechanic who can get them a car to continue their journey. Reaching him, Bill reluctantly agrees to help them, but needs their help to find a car battery so they can leave Lincoln. Once in Pittsburgh, Ellie and Joel encounter Hunters before meeting the brothers Sam and Henry, who are willing to help them reach their hideout. Though the group form a bond during their journey, it ends when Sam is infected and the following morning, attempts to kill Ellie. Henry kills his brother and commits suicide out of guilt, much to Ellie and Joel's horror.

Despite the incident, Ellie and Joel continue their journey and reach Jackson, Wyoming, where she is introduced to Joel's brother Tommy and the community he is heading. Sensing that Joel intends to hand her over to Tommy, Ellie runs away to an abandoned ranch until she found by Joel and Tommy. Joel goes back on his mind and decides to remain with Ellie, and the travel to an abandoned university where they learn that its been overrun by a hostile group. When Joel is injured from being impaled by a rebar, Ellie takes care of him and heads out in the winter to find medical supplies. She encounters two survivors named David and James, and is later captured by the two, who reveal themselves to be cannibals. When they prepare to mutilate her for food, she reveals she's infected, but uses the distraction to kill James and escape. Inside a diner, Ellie is attacked by David and brutally kills him with his own machete, but is found and comforted by Joel.

Ellie is traumatized by the incident, but remains determined to reach the Fireflies so that her trials and tribulations would have not been for nothing. While crossing through the sewers, Ellie nearly drowns but is saved by Joel, who is knocked unconscious and taken by the Fireflies. Ellie is prepped for surgery that could kill her in removing the infection, but Joel decides to take her from the group and kills Marlene, Dr. Jerry Anderson and the Fireflies in St. Mary's hospital. Ellie later awakes as Joel is driving, and is told a lie that the Fireflies couldn't make a cure. While heading towards Jackson, Ellie remains doubtful and makes Joel swear that he is telling the truth. Though he swears that he is, Ellie agrees to go with them despite her doubt, and would later learn the truth after returning to the hospital and finding a recorder that speaks of the procedure.

The Last of Us Part II[]

The following morning, Ellie is assigned to patrol outside of the Jackson community to eliminate all infected in the area. Working with Dina, the two are trapped from the blizzard hitting Jackson, and the two start their relationship, but learns from Jesse that Joel and Tommy never returned to the lookout. Ellie then travels outside to look for Joel, and finds a lodge accompanied by a unidentified crew of survivors. Managing to sneak into the lodge, Ellie discovers Joel being brutally tortured with a golf club by a survivor named Abby, and she is restrained by Abby's friends. Despite her pleads to not kill him, Abby murders Joel in front her, causing Ellie to break down crying and threaten to kill all of them. She is then knocked out by Abby's friend Jordan, but is found by both Dina and Jesse, who take her and Tommy back to the Jackson Community.

Ellie is left traumatized from the incident, but remains focused on getting revenge on Abby and her crew for killing Joel. She is able to learn that the crew are members of the Washington Liberation Front, a military group located in Seattle, Washington, and intends on going despite Tommy's initial fears of leaving Jackson vulnerable. The next day, Ellie and Dina learn from Maria that Tommy left to Seattle to get revenge, and allows the two to head to Seattle in exchange she brings him back. Reaching Seattle, Ellie and Dina deal with infected and W.L.F. patrols until the former is captured after hitting a tripwire. Captured in a abandoned school, Ellie is interrogated by Jordan, but is able to escape when Dina arrives and kills Jordan with her switchblade. The two then escape from the school and continue their journey and travel to an abandoned tv station, as Jordan's girlfriend Leah left a note that she stationed there.

Reaching the tv station, they find Leah's corpse and photos of Abby and the group, but the two are forced to escape from the W.L.F.'s patrol and head to in the metro station. During their escape, Ellie is forced to reveal that she is immune to Dina after her gas mask is broken, and Dina later reveals that is pregnant when they reach an abandoned movie theater. The following day, Dina is able to fix the radio and deduce the W.L.F.'s areas around the quarantine zone, and overhear the W.L.F. speak of a trespasser near Hillcrest. Ellie heads out and encounters Jesse, who learned that the two left and decided to help them. The two then deal with more W.L.F. patrolmen before escaping back to the movie theater. The group learn that Abby's friend Nora Harris is stationed at Lakehill Seattle hospital, and Ellie decides to head alone since she doesn't want to lose their only lead to Abby.

During her travel, Ellie deals with several infected and has her first encounters with the Seraphites, a religious cult who are at war against the liberation front. She manages to kill the Seraphites in her way and confront Nora, who attempts to escape before falling into the spore-filled area of the building. After dealing with the soldiers and infected, Ellie succeeds in getting information from Nora by using torture, but is left traumatized by her actions. Learning from Nora that Abby is at the aquarium, Ellie and Jesse travel until they overhear a trespasser in sniping Manny Alvarez's platoon at the marina. Despite Jess wanting to go help Tommy, Ellie is adamant that Miller can handle himself and steals a boat to head to the aquarium. There, she discovers that Abby is gone but confronts Owen Moore and Mel, demanding the latter to deal her of Anderson's location. During the confrontation, Owen attempts to disarm her, but Ellie shoots him and kills Mel with her own knife.

When demanding Abby's location to a dying Owen, she learns that Mel was pregnant, causing Ellie to suffer from a panic attack until Jesse and Tommy arrive. Returning to the movie theater, Ellie speaks with Jesse until Abby arrives, kills Jesse and chastises Ellie for wasting her chance to live when she was spared. Tommy manages to distract Abby long enough for Ellie to fight Anderson, but she is defeated and left to live after Lev request that Abby do so. Ellie, Dina and Tommy returned to Jackson and the former decides to live her life with Dina and her son JJ. Living on a farm outside of the community, Ellie still suffers from trauma, and after being chastised by Tommy for not keeping her promise, decides to locate Abby. Reaching to Santa Barbara, Ellie encounters the Rattlers but manages to find a broken Abby, who has been tortured by the faction alongside Lev.

Ellie lets loose from their binds, but decides to continue with her quest for revenge by threatening to kill Lev if Abby doesn't fight her. The two fight and Ellie gains the upper hand, but when recalling a memory of Joel, she decides to spare Abby and allows her to leave with Lev. Ellie returns to the farm and discovers that Dina has left with JJ, and after playing with Joel's guitar, finally forgives him and leaves.

Personality and Traits[]

Having been raised in an environment where modern standards and values have deteriorated, Ellie is considerably as a rash, impulsive, coarse and temperamental girl, 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 amusem*nt upon finding interesting collectibles throughout her trip, which often clashes with Joel's physical indifference. Ellie begins to learn about the world before the Cordyceps brain infection due to the oddities she finds and from Joel. She is is amazed by the trivial matters that people were concerned with, specifically females, before the apocalypse such as boys and what shirt goes with which skirt.

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 adult's 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.

Powers and Abilities[]

Powers[]

• Immunity to the Cordyceps Infection: She is immune to infection as such spores or bites don't affect her, and she also has the ability to infect other humans via bites as she did with David.

Abilities[]

• Firearms Specialist/Markswoman: Ellie is very skilled with guns despite not being granted one until she saved Joel from a Hunter. She is also quite good at tracking and hunting as she was able to shoot a rabbit during Winter presumably from a far distance and managed to land a few good shots on a deer she was tracking. She is also a very good marksman, being able to snipe for Joel while he cleared a path of Hunters.
• Knife Mastery: She is also very skilled with knives.
• Survival Mastery: Ellie is an equally skilled craftsmen as Joel, being able to create Medical Kits, Molotovs and Nail Bombs. It's also revealed that Ellie knows how to work a car and is adept at horse-riding, being able to ride away from Joel and Tommy's dam by herself.
• Stealth: She excels at stealth as well, an example was when she was able to creep up on a Hunter while he was attempting to drown Joel and shoot him although this could also be because he was distracted.

Weaknesses[]

Though she is an equally adept survivor as Joel, her age, size and strength prevents her from physically fighting a human or Infected and has to slash with her knife. She can also be ambushed, tracked or knocked out. An example is when a group of cannibals located her back to her hold by following the horse tracks, being locked in a chokehold by David and tracked yet again by the latter.

She was unable to swim during the events of the first game, but she managed to learn this ability by the events of the second after being taught by Joel presumably.

Portrayals[]

• She is voiced and motion captured by Ashley Johnson (who also voiced Peter Shepherd in the Jumani animated series, Jinmay in Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Terra in Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!, Gretchen Grundler in Recess, Gwen Tennyson in Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, and Renet Tilley in the 2012 animated series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) in the English version of the game, and by Gea Riva in the Italian version of the game.

• In the Japanese dub from the game, she is voiced by Megumi Han, who also voiced Momiji Sohma in Fruits Basket (2019), Airu Suzaki in Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time, Gon Freecss in Hunter x Hunter (2011), Takeru Takaishi in Digimon Adventure:, Iris Amicitia in Final Fantasy XV, Cassie Cage in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Obito Uchiha (young) and Kurenai Yūhi (young) in Naruto: Shippuden, Atsuko Kagari in Little Witch Academia, Ramlethal Valentine in Guilty Gear Xrd, Sayla Mass in Mobile Suit Gundam, Rio Kastle in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Cheerilee in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Penny Polendina in RWBY, Hime Shirayuki in Happiness Charge Pretty Cure!, Tatami Nakagame in My Hero Academia and Kurozumi Tama in One Piece.

• In the HBO series, she is portrayed by Bella Ramsey, who also played Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, Mildred Hubble in The Worst Witch, and voiced Hilda from TV series of the same name.

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

• She used to bear a striking resemblance to an actor Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page), who also stared in Beyond Two Souls, another PlayStation exclusive that was released months after The Last of Us. Ellie's appearance was altered as an attempt by Naughty Dog to better her age and resemble her voice actress.
• Her voice actress, Ashley Johnson won BAFTA Games Awards in 2013 and 2014 for her performance.
• Due to her revenge actions against Abby, Ellie can be considered sociopathic, to the point that she kills people who were not even involved in Joel's death.
• Shares Similarities to Sherry Birkin from the Resident Evil Franchise:
  • Both are infected young girls that accompany the protagonists.
  • Neither turn despite their infection. In fact, both are believed to be the answer for a cure. However, in Resident Evil 6 Sherry reveals despite her immunity that her blood didn't contain what was needed for the cure and that Albert Wesker's Son Jake Muller maybe the answer.
  • Both return in sequels and are older.
• In the HBO series her mother: Anna is portrayed by her voice actress: Ashley Johnson.

External Links[]

• Ellie Williams on the Villains Wiki
• Ellie Williams on the Last of Us Wiki
• Ellie Williams on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
• Ellie Williams on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki