EllieWilliams[7] is the central character of The Last of Us series.[fn 1] She serves as the protagonist of The Last of Us: American Dreams, the playable deuteragonist of The Last of Us Part I, the playable protagonist of The Last of Us: Left Behind, the playable dual protagonist of The Last of Us Part II,[1][8] and a playable character in the No Return mode.[9]
Ellie grew up as an orphan in the Boston quarantine zone and attended a military preparatory school, where she met and befriended Riley Abel. When Ellie was fourteen, the pair were both infected with the Cordyceps brain infection, where Ellie discovered she was immune. A friend of her mother's and the leader of the Fireflies, Marlene, believed that she was the key to reverse engineering a vaccine. Marlene tasked Joel Miller, a smuggler, with escorting Ellie outside of the QZ. The simple drop-off turned into a year-long journey across America, and the two eventually formed a close bond.
Upon reaching the Fireflies in Salt Lake City, Joel learned that only killing Ellie could create the cure. Refusing to allow this, he killed the head surgeon and escaped with Ellie to settle down in Jackson, his brother's community in Wyoming. For the next four years, Ellie came to resent Joel for saving her life. In 2038, Abby Anderson, a former Firefly and the surgeon's daughter, found and killed Joel. Ellie vowed revenge and pursued Abby to Seattle. Her efforts were fruitless, leading her to retire on a farm with her girlfriend Dina and her son JJ. Unable to forgive Abby, Ellie abandoned her family and pursued her once again to Santa Barbara, only to spare Abby in the end. She returned to the farm once more, coming to terms with Joel's death and his decision to save her life.
Ellie Williams was born in the spring of 2019, by which time the Cordyceps brain infection had spread throughout the United States. Her mother was a nurse named Anna, although the identity of her father is unknown. On the day of her birth, her mother passed away. Before her death, Anna entrusted her closest friend Marlene to look after Ellie. However, Ellie did not meet Marlene until she was 13 years old.[11]
Shortly after turning 13, Ellie arrives at the Boston quarantine zone on a bus, to the sight of the military scanning a man for infection. She thinks nothing of it until the scan reads positive and a man is forced to his knees at gunpoint. This sight frightens her.
Once she is safely inside the gates, she and the other survivors leave the bus. She is approached by a soldier who knows her. He warns her not to pull any of her "old stunts" once she has settled in and tells her that he can no longer look after her. Ellie asks that he take her with him, but he refuses, citing his responsibility to his own family.
Enraged, Ellie declares she can take care of herself without his help. However, shortly after she is caught in a fight with a group of boys who attempt to steal her belongings. Ellie provokes them, but is saved by a teenage girl as their leader prepares to attack her. The girl intimidates the boys enough to scare them away.
She asks Ellie what they wanted with her, and Ellie implies they meant to steal her belongings. She dismisses the girl when she tries to give her advice on how to function in the quarantine zone, inquiring whether or not she looked like she needed help. The girl notes she has "trust issues" and calls her "new kid." Seconds later, she advises Ellie to flee before quickly leaving. Ellie is confused by what she means and is caught by one of the authority figures in charge of the school. In his office, Ellie is flippant with his show of authority despite the open reading of her rap sheet in previous homes.
He assigns her to cleaning duty. While she is in the middle of scrubbing a bloodied jeep, she reaches for her Walkman and finds it missing from her jacket pocket. She realizes that the girl from earlier stole it from her and throws a fit, baffled by how she could have taken it without Ellie noticing.
A moment later, she notices an amputated finger near the wheel of the jeep and is quick to imagine the fight that must have occurred. She dumps the water on the tire and goes to confront the girl about her Walkman. In the mess hall, Ellie demands that the Walkman be returned to her, but the girl feigns ignorance. Ellie, however, continues to press the matter until the girl gives it up with a backhanded comment about her poor taste in music.
Later that night, as Ellie lies awake in bed, she hears footsteps outside her room. She gets dressed and peers outside her door in time to catch the girl disappearing through an exit. Ellie follows her discretely and successfully sneaks up on her. Surprised to find Ellie behind her, the girl demands that she go back to her room.
Ellie refuses; she wants her to show her a way out of the school and tells her to stop calling her "new kid." The girl hesitates for a moment before she obliges her request; she asks if she can keep up and Ellie remarks that keeping up is "not an issue." The girl finally calls Ellie by her given name, asking her not to make her regret bringing her along. The two manage to escape the building and cross the yard without being noticed. Climbing over the fence, Ellie asks how the girl knew her name. The girl states that she has "her ways" and introduces herself as Riley. Riley asks if she is ready for what is next and Ellie responds in confirmation.
Ellie struggles to keep up with Riley as she leads her across the rooftops. When Riley comes to a stop, Ellie, out of breath, asks if that is all the challenge she has to offer. Ignoring the question, Riley asks if Ellie ever thinks about her future. Ellie assumes she is being facetious and inquires if she means future as seen in science fiction. Riley repeats the question and asks Ellie what she intends to do with her life. Ellie does not see much of a future for herself and Riley says that her mentality is exactly how the quarantine zone's authority figures want people to think.
Confused, Ellie asks Riley what she intends on doing with her life. Riley tells Ellie she turns sixteen in three months and she intends on using that time to find out. Ellie demands to know what else life might hold for them, but Riley ignores the question. She asks Ellie if she has ever ridden a horse before and Ellie tells her no." Riley leads Ellie through the window of an abandoned mall. As they travel through the vacant building, Ellie spots a mannequin standing behind a broken window display and takes a moment to mock its posture before she moves to rejoin Riley.
Riley dismisses her enthusiasm, saying the game is for children. She then begins to describe "The Turning," a violent fighting game with a female character named 'Angel Knives.' Ellie points out the fortune of the kids that were born before the infection, never catching Riley's somber expression. Riley decides they are wasting time and leaves the arcade.
As Ellie follows, she stops to imagine what the arcade would have looked like before the infection hit and immediately after before moving on. Riley takes her to a camp where she meets her friend, Winston, a resident of the mall. Winston berates Riley for bringing another friend to the mall, knowing it will only cause him trouble. Riley assures him Ellie is cool and introduces the two formally. In exchange for bringing him whiskey, she asks that he teach Ellie how to ride a horse.
Ellie follows Riley to the stables; the girl explains to her how to behave around horses and tells her to make sure Winston takes her around the whole mall on Princess. As Riley prepares the horse, Ellie asks if she is trying to get kicked out of the quarantine zone by causing trouble.
Riley tells her she does not want to be put into general population where people receive terrible jobs and little rations to survive. Once the horse is ready to go, Winston helps Ellie climb into the saddle and warns Riley to behave as they head out. Ellie asks Winston about his life before the infection and listens to the older man reminisce about his childhood roaming the mall and skipping school, enthralled by his memories.
Following Riley, the pair reach a place overlooking a battle between the military and the Fireflies. Seeing that the Fireflies are losing, Riley decides to give them a chance to escape. Ellie is shocked to find that Riley managed to steal some smoke bombs when Winston was distracted. The pair throw the smoke bombs at the military, allowing the Fireflies to retreat safely. The girls cheer, but the military spots the pair and opens fire on them.
Ellie and Riley quickly flee into an alleyway outside the mall behind a dumpster. Ellie is irritable despite Riley's assurances that they will be safe. However, a runner appears and attacks Ellie first.
Riley reacts by hitting it with a stone before it can do anything, but the runner, having discovered her, begins to attack Riley and pins her to the ground. He seems to bite her before Ellie kills it with a brick. Ellie inspects the area and finds that only Riley's jacket was torn. Riley displays a brief moment of defiant bravado, but right afterwards admits she was terrified of turning and cries into Ellie's arms.
The Fireflies that retreated from the fight soon spot the girls. Riley tries to explain that they were the ones who threw the smoke bombs, but is knocked unconscious by one of the members. Ellie is furious, but is later blindfolded and captured, with one of them shocked that Ellie was involved.
Ellie wakes up to the Fireflies arguing about whether or not they should disobey orders. Ellie is able to shake the bag from her head and can see three men arguing. She slips out of the rope which is binding her hands behind her back and reaches for a shard of glass when Marlene enters.
One of the Fireflies asks her how another one of their members, named Kerry, is doing. Marlene informs him that the doctor believes she has a chance of surviving. Marlene removes the binds from Ellie's legs with a knife and Ellie demands that Riley is untied. The Fireflies comply and Marlene hands Ellie an envelope with the instructions to open it when she returns to the school. Ellie sees Riley and Marlene argue before three armed men turn up and demand that they pay the toll for being in the smuggler's tunnel. The men become hostile and suddenly attack, with Ellie pulling a frozen Riley away from the firefight.
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