Ellie Williams

Ellie Williams

Ellie is a character in the video game series The Last of Us by Naughty Dog. She is portrayed by Ashley Johnson through motion capture and voice acting; in the television adaptation, she is portrayed by Bella Ramsey. In the first game, The Last of Us (2013), Joel Miller is tasked with escorting a 14-year-old Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States in an attempt to create a cure for an infection to which Ellie is immune. While players briefly assume control of Ellie, the artificial intelligence primarily controls her actions. Ellie reappeared as the playable character in the downloadable content prequel The Last of Us: Left Behind, in which she spends time with her friend Riley. In The Last of Us Part II (2020), players control a 19-year-old Ellie as she seeks revenge on Abby for Joel's death. Ellie was created by Neil Druckmann, the creative director and writer of The Last of Us. Inspired by a mute character proposed for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, he created her as a strong female character who has a close relationship with Joel; throughout the first game's development, the relationship between Ellie and Joel was the central focus. Johnson inspired aspects of Ellie's personality, prompting Druckmann to make her more active in fighting hostile enemies. Following comparisons to the likeness of Canadian actor Elliot Page, Naughty Dog redesigned Ellie's appearance to better reflect Johnson's personality and make her younger. For her performance in Part II, Johnson considered her own experiences with anxiety and researched the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. The character has been well-received by critics, with Ellie's relationship with Joel most frequently the subject of praise. The strength and complexity of her character, and its subversion of the damsel in distress stereotype, have also been commended. A scene in which Ellie and Riley kiss in Left Behind drew social commentary and was commended as a leap for LGBT representation in video games. Johnson's performance in Part II was praised for her depiction of vulnerability and suffering. Both the character and performance received numerous awards and nominations, and have regularly placed favorably in polls and lists. Ramsey's performance in the television series has been similarly praised.

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